When Past Meets Future
by firevixen73
Summary: Itachi was Sakura's personal bully as kids, luckily he forgot about her when she left to train with Tsunade. Now adults their paths are about to cross once again. She's ready for revenge & he wants a distraction from a forceful ninja clan pushing marriage
1. And So it Begins

_An analytical boy with long black hair, sharp eyes and a knack for detail surveyed the area before him. He was known for his deductive abilities, for being able to decipher troubling situations and quickly deducing a conclusion with an appropriate solution. It was because of this that the young man was having such a hard time figuring out this particular scenario. Why again was he here at this meaningless place? Said boy with midnight colored hair and charcoal eyes watched as the surrounding children played their various little games throughout out the yard. Honestly, he was a genin; he should not have to be here with these…children._

"_Now Itachi, please try to play nice while I talk to the women over there, we will not be long and then we can go home," spoke the boy's mother._

_Itachi looked up at his mother with a glare, "I can take care of myself mother; I do not need to be here."_

"_Nonsense, I haven't spent the day with you in ages. I just need to do this for your father. It will only take a minute," came her reprimanding voice._

_His mother then left and walked through the doors that lead inside the building. Itachi once again looked around at the children of all ages surrounding him. He supposed it was somewhat necessary to be here. The Uchiha clan was rather wealthy and the orphanage was in dire need of funding. It would not only look good for his clan, building them a nice reputation, but it would provide these people with obvious necessities._

"_Do you want to play ball with me?" asked a little girl with blond hair and blue eyes. _

_Itachi did a quick study of the girl before answering. She was almost his height and probably his age if not a year or two younger. He was of course more mature than she could ever hope of being but that was beside the point. From her choice of clothing and her obvious lack of strength she was of civilian decent and held no ninja capabilities. Over all, she was not worth his time._

"_No," he replied before walking away._

_He quickly walked around the nearest group of children as he avoided the blonde girl who was intent on following him. Girls were strange. They were always attempting to talk to him. It was usually about the most mundane and irrelevant things too. Itachi abruptly stopped his feet when he contemplated the situation further. His mother had told him that when a girl his age blushed and stuttered like that it meant that they liked him._

_He scoffed at the idea. They were not worthy of his time if they became so flustered._

"_Umm, do you dink you could move?" asked a random voice._

_Itachi, noticing that the voice was different than the blond haired little girl, decided that maybe he should pay attention to whoever was talking to him. Once he searched the area he found a small pink haired girl with abnormally bright green eye's standing before him…hopping on one foot. "Is there something wrong with your leg?"_

_The girl continued to look at him while hopping, "No, can you move now?"_

"_Why?" he asked. _

"_Cause yours in my way, I don't wanna bweak the wules," she answered calmly but with a slight slur on some of her 'r's._

_Itachi looked around the surrounding area to see he was indeed in the way of what she was doing. He saw large squares with numbers in them that she had been hopping on, still was hopping on. He finally looked down to see that he was indeed standing in the middle of one of the squares._

"_You are a child," he said mockingly, like he saw both her and her game foolish._

"_You are kind of mean," said the girl just as quickly._

"_What are you? Two?" he asked, realizing that she wasn't backing down._

"_I'm three you jewk," she countered, "now pwease move my leg is getting tired."_

"_Just go play with the other children and do something stupid with them," he said while narrowing his eyes. He didn't know why but this girl was making him extremely frustrated. Why wasn't she leaving, all the other girls eventually left when he argued with them enough. They would usually try to spend the next hour or so trying to figure out what he had said. What was this kid, just abnormally stupid?_

_The girl's slightly larger than average forehead wrinkled, "The other kids don't like to pway with me, so I pway by myself."_

"_Is it because you are annoying? Because you are," he said while smirking. Somewhere in his mind Itachi knew he had won. No girl could ever tolerate being told that they were annoying, they always left crying._

_Then something unexpected happened. The small three-year-old little girl caught the Uchiha prodigy off guard and did something that no civilian child should have been able to do. She unexpectedly leaped into the air and went flying over his shoulders. Itachi turned around just in time to see the light shade of pink land on the square behind him. While he continued to watch she continued to play her game._

_The small girl quickly completed her round of hop scotch and turned back around to start her next round. She picked up a pebble and attempted to throw it on the squares. Itachi, seeing that she was intent on ignoring him took a few stomps forward and stepped on the stone with his foot. With a small burst of chakra he turned it into dust with a heavy crunch._

_The girl stomped over to him and glared, "That was mean."_

"_You are not a civilian," he spoke calmly._

_The girl's forehead seemed to grow larger in her confusion._

"_This is a civilian orphanage, but you do not show the character traits of a civilian," he then leaned forward and pressed his index and pointer finger to her temple. It was something he normally did to his brother but it seemed appropriate at the moment. It opened the mind of the victim to the user, thus making it easier for a proper genjitsu to be cast._

_He watched as the little girls green eyes grew wide as she followed him. As soon as her eye's seemed incapable of growing any larger he felt a blinding pain in his left shin. He hadn't felt pain like this for a long time, almost three years now. He let out a small wail as the girl began to scream at him._

"_You jewk!" he briefly noticed the slight waver in her speech that she spoke with as she yelled at him. He had noticed it before but back then it had just been an annoyance. Now she had hurt him, now she was worthy of notice. Even in his pain he started to analyze his enemy. It seemed she was not completely done learning her pronunciations, and it became more noticeable when angry. _

"_Itachi!" yelled a familiar voice._

_He suppressed a groan as the voice drifted closer and closer each passing second. Great, now his mother was here._

"_What happened honey?" she asked as she knelt next to him while inspecting his leg. She had some very brief medical training and was able to heal a few small injuries. This injury was of course nothing minor. Nothing that could cause this much pain could ever be considered minor._

"_This brat kicked me," he said bitterly, while he was desperately trying to convince himself that it didn't hurt as much as it did. Luckily he had his pain to fuel him, thus taking his mind away from the shooting sensation and on the soon to be dead little girl._

"_He made that glowy stuff go into my bwain!" yelled the small girl in defense of her actions. _

_Itachi's eyes widened. How had she known what chakra was? How did she recognize it? He had incredible chakra control! His own brother didn't even know what he was doing and he was from a prominent ninja family. Yet this little scrap of a disgustingly pink fruit caught him?_

_Suddenly he heard his mother gasp, "Itachi, your leg is broken in three places!"_

_Being that she was so small, so innocent looking, no one would have suspected that she had harnessed the very same chakra that Itachi had been attempting to use on her earlier. No one would have guessed that something that had frightened her so easily came naturally to her, even if she didn't know it. It was medical jutsu that went well beyond her years, let alone her experience. Unfortunately she was someone with impeccable control, even if she did not know it, and naturally drew upon the power when threatened._

"_Sakura!" yelled another voice. He watched as the pink haired girl's eyes widened and she shrunk into his mothers form. It seemed even the rebellious little hellion knew when to be afraid. Soon a woman who looked to be in her early fifties stepped in front of him. Off of first glance she appeared to be angry but upon further inspection he noticed that it wasn't just anger that she was radiating. She was malicious and all of her attention was focused on the child…Sakura. Yes, that was what she had called the brat._

"_You insignificant child. How dare you act out in such a manor!" the woman quickly grabbed Sakura from behind his mother and harshly pulled the girl over to her side by her upper arm. Obviously the small girl was in pain, the adult arm obviously not caring about any possible bruising. "These are the people who feed you, and you disgrace them like this? You will get no supper tonight you hear me? Go straight to your bed and don't even think of leaving, I will deal with you tonight."_

_As soon as she was released Sakura ran inside and to what Itachi could only presume to be upstairs like she was ordered._

"_Please accept my apologies Lady Uchiha, I am sure Sakura is sorry-" but his mother cut the woman off before another word could be said._

"_Please, from what I can tell this was my son's fault. From what the child said my boy was using chakra and he scared her. If anyone should be punished it will be Itachi. I think this break shall do. We will leave it to heal on its own," she said sternly while surveying her son's reaction._

_For the first time in a long time Itachi felt the need to question his mother's sanity, "Mother, the chuunin exams are next week. I cannot miss those. I will need a medic to heal this today if I even wish to stand on it by the end of the week."_

"_Then you shall just have to wait until the next exam because you are not participating with a bum leg that is broken in three places."_

_Itachi's eye's narrowed. He was not going to be taking the exams? The council elders were already worried about how young he was and the missions he went on. He should have been promoted years ago, he was already doing C and B class missions on a regular basis, but they had refused him for years. Now that he had this chance it was being taken away? Then there were the other factors. He was going to be bed ridden for a good two months and now his mother was mad at him? This was all that Sakura girl's fault._

* * *

To say she was angry was an understatement. To say she was pissed was putting it lightly. So say she was fucking furious was just skimming the surface of a very deep pool of water. If it was the last thing she did, she was going to kill them. No, she would more than kill them, she would obliterate them. She would personally make sure they were properly tortured and if that meant she would be the one slowly pulling off mounds of flesh from their bodies as they screamed in agony, then so be it, but they would be punished for this…severely.

"But Sakura, we didn't know you were sleeping!" yelled Naruto as she looked at him fiercely.

Like she believed that one, Sakura thought while internally rolling her eyes.

"So the quiet form of a girl with her eyes closed while laying down underneath a shaded tree never hit either one of you as conspicuous?" she looked over at her teammates in question. "Naruto I can understand because he is oblivious to most things but Kakashi Hayate, genius of his generation, couldn't put something as simple as that together? Sasuke Uchiha, of the infamous Uchiha clan's Sharingon couldn't see a sleeping pink haired girl at the base of the tree?"

None of them could look her in the eye, not even the normally arrogant beyond reason Sasuke, and she knew she had her answer.

She was trying really hard not to blow up at them, she really was, but it was just so hard. It wasn't like she could expect them to know about her last couple of days after all. It wasn't like they knew that she had just gotten off of her latest hospital shift. Her latest shift that lasted a grand total of three days. Three days of no sleeping, no eating and no breaks whatsoever. Three days of constant chakra use and reuse. Three exhausting days that left her too tired to argue about it.

She sighed heavily, "What is it?" she finished in a deflated tone.

Kakashi's only visible eye caught her own bright green ones, "What?"

After a few more calming breaths and a self talk about anger management, she replied back, "What is it? I'm guessing you guys ruined my favorite spot to tell me something of significance."

Naruto, of course, being as exuberant and eager as he was born to be, was the first to speak, "We wanted to know if you were hungry? We're going to get ramen."

She closed her eyes once again, too tired to fight with them. As annoyed as she was, because she was defiantly annoyed, she knew they were trying to help her. She knew they just wanted to take care of her and make sure she was okay, but…sometimes they were way to extreme.

She looked back over her shoulder to her now ruined spot.

Her poor tree.

Once again she looked at 'her boys', as they had been dubbed by the citizens of Konoha. Sometimes she wished they were someone else's boys. Why did she always end up with the damaged beyond repair ones anyways? The socially inept ones without a clue seemed to latch on to her like leeches and she had no idea why.

Then again, Sakura knew she was hungry, she knew she hadn't eaten in over three days, and she knew that they knew it had to have been a while since real food had touched her lips. While they didn't know her exact schedule they knew she was busy, and for that she would love them forever. Even scowling know-it-all Sasuke would forever be one of her own socially retarded leeches. Honestly speaking Sakura wouldn't change it for the world.

"Alright, I guess I'm kind of hungry," she finished with a weak smile.

That seemed to be exactly what they wanted to hear because as soon as the words left her lips she was linked arm in arm with Naruto, him dragging her to the stand, both Sasuke and Kakashi a few steps behind, attempting to act aloof with in the presence of others. Together the four set off towards the ramen stand, the three men ready to stuff Sakura until she exploded.

* * *

Shikamaru carefully surveyed the area before him. The area that was usually so peaceful, so tranquil, so undisturbed…was no more.

Instead, before him was disaster. The large oak tree that on more than one occasion provided him with enough shade to fall blissfully asleep during the middle of the hot summer days was now completely uprooted…literally. The tree had been yanked upwards and was resting on its side, the large roots either attached to the wooden shelter or scattered around the clearing. Not that it could really be called a clearing anymore. Various holes and piles of dirt were scattered throughout the area…it looked like a war zone. In some aspect the lazy boy expected to see dead shinobi bodies strone about.

He sighed as he turned back towards his other cloud watching spot. He muttered one word at the disaster before him.

"Troublesome."

* * *

"Why do I continue to associate with you?" asked Sakura as she finished off her bowl of ramen.

Naruto looked at her in question, mouth agape with various ramen ingredients protruding from his lips. "I don't know, all the girls like Sasuke, I guess it's one of those girl things."

Sakura watched as said Uchiha rolled his eyes, "She was talking about you dobe."

Naruto quickly slurped down the remainder of his bowl, "Nu-uh. She likes me way more that she likes you. I'm her favorite person ever!"

"You are an idiot," said Sasuke as he pushed his bowl aside, already knowing what would result out of their little talk.

Sakura, having seen this particular scene play out before, jumped off of the stool and grabbed Kakashi's hand, dragging him away from the encounter. The last thing she wanted was to get roped into paying for _another_ set of stools.

"Is there a particular reason you are dragging me across town Sakura?" asked Kakashi, nose still in his book, completely oblivious to the outside world, namely Sasuke and Naruto's destructive tendencies towards each other.

A loud boom was suddenly heard coming from behind them. Both shinobi immediately turned around just in time to see a very large cloud of dust rise into the air and over the various buildings. Sakura sighed as she watched multiple Anbu sprint to the area. It was only a few more seconds before she heard Naruto's furious yell which was directed at Sasuke, then at the Anbu.

"Hey, I wasn't done kicking his ass!" she heard echoing off the buildings.

Sakura turned back around and continued to drag the man towards the town market, "No, no reason at all."

She quickly made her way around the corner and headed for the nearest vendor, "Mind helping me? I haven't gone grocery shopping in a while."

Kakashi stalled for a moment before putting his book down in order to look at her properly. He gave her a slight raising of the eyebrows as she continued to look at him with hope in her eyes. They continued to stand there in the middle of the street for a few seconds more, determined to make the other one crack.

It was Sakura who gave in.

With a sigh she briefly closed her eyes, taking in her loss, "Don't worry, you don't have to carry anything."

Kakashi immediately put his book away and into his pouch, "I would be happy to help you Sakura," he said in his non-chalet like manner.

"And you wonder why you're still single," she grumbled as she made it to the first stand while grabbing a basket near the checkout counter.

"I'm single because women are annoying and it is much easier to have one night stands than put up with something you don't want anyways. I work long hours, and have three annoying brats to take care of. What woman would want that?" he continued somehow keeping that same carefree and lazy attitude he was so known for.

"Don't you dare blame this on me Kakashi. You don't have a wife because you're a commitment phobic and you work too much," came Sakura's reply as she placed a couple of carrots in the basket.

"Perhaps, but unfortunately my youngest seems to have picked up my habit of working too hard, now hasn't she?" he said while reaching over to the book shelf and placing the latest Icha Icha Paradise book in her basket.

"I do not work too much," argued Sakura while placing a fresh roll of bread in her basket and taking out the Icha Icha book, then inserting it in someone else's basket inconspicuously. It was moments like this that ninja skills came in real handy. Of course, it would be incredibly embarrassing for the individual once they made it to the checkout, but that wasn't Sakura's problem. No, hers was much worse. She had Kakashi to deal with.

"Yes, because you never work yourself to the point of exhaustion, or place others above your own safety to an unhealthy degree," said Kakashi while grabbing a bag of powdered donuts and placing them in her basket.

"You're one to talk. When was the last time you went in for a checkup at the hospital? Six, maybe seven years ago? Tell me if I'm giving you too much credit," she laughed as she took out the powdered donuts and replaced them with strawberries.

"No, that sounds about right, and why didn't the donuts make it?" he asked lazily.

"Because Naruto's nutrition intake is lacking. He can't afford donuts right now," came her reply as celery and peanut butter were put in the mix of food inside the sturdy basket.

"So you punish the rest of us?" he asked.

"You want junk food then all of you need to be up to it. I would never hear the end of it if I gave you and Sasuke junk food and Naruto had to watch," she answered back easily. This type of interaction between them was rather common after all. After so many years you know the arguments by heart.

Kakashi made a small 'hn' noise and returned to scanning the isle for what he wanted. With reflexes that would make his past Anbu days proud he dropped in a couple of bags of chips and some dip. With a questioning gaze he looked towards Sakura for approval.

She glared at him briefly and then relented, "Fine, but only because I love you so much. You haven't exactly been getting your daily nutrients either you know."

"Perhaps it is because the woman whom I normally have cook for me has been working herself to the brink of death. She has been extremely busy and because of that I haven't been getting my regularly balanced three meals a day," replied Kakashi as he walked to the next isle, hands on the back of his head in a casual manner.

Sakura nearly knocked him out as he gracefully walked away. He was _so not_ pinning this on her. He was a big boy, he knew how to make a sandwich. He was no cripple, he was just too lazy to walk over to the damn kitchen if something wasn't already made. Just for that she was going to get him back. Oh just wait, she was making spinach tonight, his absolute _favorite_.

While marching over to her surrogate father she grabbed a handful of spinach and placed it into a bag. She carefully looped her arm through the bag so he couldn't steal it without her noticing. He was not even going to be given the chance to place this back on the shelves. Then, with an evil glare she walked past him, making sure the clear bag of freshly grown spinach was in his sight.

Sakura watched as Kakashi's one visible eye widened to a degree that even a genin would notice and that was saying something about his response, considering his reputation as one of Konoha's best ninja's.

"Crap," she heard him mumble.

Oh yes, spinach was his _favorite_. It was so good that she usually had to force feed him. See, this is what you get when you mess with the woman who cooks most of your meals. You would think by now that he would know _not_ to mess with the pink haired woman, she was feisty as well as devious, never a good combination.

Suddenly there was a blur behind her and she turned around to see her favorite Uchiha standing to her left. Sakura suppressed a frown as she took in his uncaring stance. One of these days he was going to find himself in a position where his Uchiha ranking didn't get him out of trouble.

"Where's Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"Anbu took him for property damage," he said quickly while scanning the isle for his favorite foods.

"And they didn't take you because…" she didn't need to finish her sentence.

Sasuke smirked, "Because I'm the second in line as Uchiha clan heir."

She growled, "Sasuke, I swear, you have to stop picking fights with him in public if you know he's going to get in trouble."

"Why would I do that? The dobe is the one who's stupid enough to fall for it every time," said Sasuke while putting in a couple of tomatoes. He stopped when he saw the spinach hanging from her arm. He looked at Kakashi who seemed to still be mulling over the blow. "You piss her off?"

If he didn't know his carefully controlled teacher as well as he did Sasuke would say that it almost sounded like a whimper came from the man's masked mouth, "Apparently our little Sakura doesn't like being reprimanded."

Sasuke's eyebrow lifted but he decided not to push it any further. He turned back to Sakura, "What is for dinner?"

Sakura stopped mid reach as she contemplated her answer, "Umm…I'm thinking pasta. If I have time I'll make some homemade tomato sauce and meatballs. But if I do that I won't have time to make some homemade garlic bread, so I'll have to buy some. We'll also need some greens so I'm thinking salad. That way I can be sure Kakashi get's his spinach."

Sakura grabbed a bag to hold a couple of peaches as she saw Kakashi flinch at his favorite word. Honestly she had no idea what was wrong with the stuff, it wasn't like they really tasted like anything and it would undoubtedly be drenched in dressing anyways. That man really just was a big baby.

"Don't count on desert though. I'm tired and will probably go straight to bed afterwards," she finished. In all actuality she was very thankful for her little powernap. It would probably be just enough to eat dinner, send the boys home and start on some of her paperwork.

"Sakura! Can we get some instant ramen?" screamed a voice from behind her.

Sakura immediately swung around in order to face the loud blonde, "No Naruto, you already eat way to much ramen as it is."

The blonde slowly walked up to her with a large pout adorning his face, three boxes of Ramen in his hands, "Come on, just for when you're not around?" he pleaded.

She sighed in defeat, "Alright but only if you promise not to get in some many fights with Sasuke."

Naruto joyously put the ramen in her now overflowing basket, "It's not my fault bastard has to have the Anbu finish his fights!"

Before another fight could be instigated, which she was sure Sasuke would love to happen, she intervened, "What did Jiraiya have to say this time."

"The old man? Oh, just normal stuff. That I need to be more respectful and stop destroying so much property," he said half heartedly. This particular meeting did tend to happen on a weekly basis after all. Undoubtedly Jiraiya had his speech memorized.

"So nothing new?" asked Sakura again as she headed for the checkout counter.

"No, just said that I need to beat bastard over here before Anbu show up," said Naruto happily as all the items were priced by the cashier.

Sasuke humped in annoyance but let the comment slide. Sakura quickly paid for the bags of food. She effortlessly picked up two bags and handed them to the still talking Naruto, then picked up another one and gave it to Sasuke. This left both her and Kakashi grocery bags free.

She watched as Sasuke looked at his own bag and then at Naruto's. The blonde seemed to be doing the same, "Sakura!" whined the demon container, "why isn't Kakashi holding anything?"

"Because I told him he didn't have to, now let's go. I haven't been home in three days and I'm dying to step back into my own living room."

* * *

Perhaps it was her imagination, perhaps she was just seeing things but…they were not leaving. "Why are you still here?" she asked Sasuke.

"Family dinner," said Sasuke quickly while surfing through her channels.

Naruto looked up at her as he took in another bite of vanilla ice cream, "Like I would ever make you face Sasuke alone."

Sakura sighed and looked towards Kakashi, "Well?"

He looked up from one of his famous orange books, "Better reading light."

"You three do still have your own apartment's…right?" came the inevitable question.

"Of course," came Kakashi as he flipped the page.

"Stacked full of ramen," said Naruto.

And of course there was no response from Sasuke, but that was to be expected. As long as the Uchiha clan was around he would always have a roof over his head.

"Then I'm doing some paperwork," came her tired response as she headed for her book bag.

Before she could reach it, the over sized and overstuffed container was kicked out from her grasp. She looked up to see Naruto's foot lazily stretched out before her, said boy having a stupid smile on his face.

"Oops?" was all he said.

"No, not tonight you guys. I have too much work to play medic in the middle."

Sakura reached over in front of Sasuke only to have the bag once again thrown from her reach. She glared at Sasuke who now held the bag above his head as he casually tossed it to Kakashi. In a flash Kakashi's outstretched arm held the bag tight. "You are going to bed Sakura, you are too tired for work. We can play this all night if you really have that much energy."

She glanced at her three teammates. Everyone but Kakashi was doing what they had been up to previously. No, she took that back, Kakashi already had his nose back in that god awful book of his. Naruto was eating ice cream and Sasuke was aimlessly flipping through channels once again, but she knew from experience their full attention was on her. Fine, if they weren't going to let her work legitimately then she was just going to have to do things the sneaky way.

"Fine, I'll go to bed. Happy now?" she said defiantly.

"We will be when you give us that pile of paperwork you have stashed in your closet," came Kakashi's reply as he very ungracefully dropped her book bag down on the ground, its contents now scattered in various piles. It took all her willpower not to go over there and pick up the mess he had created. The only thing that stopped her was the realizations of what he had just said.

Her face dropped. How…what…when? She glanced from face to face of her three ninja friends. Their expressions betrayed nothing. With a furious shriek she stomped into her bedroom and opened up her closet. Quite carefully she pulled out the hidden shoe box that contained next week's rounds along with various other paperwork she needed to finish. Quite quickly she contemplated hiding just one or two documents further into her closet but a sudden tap on her shoulder made her turn around.

Bright and vibrant green met a dark gray.

With a huff she shoved the box into Kakashi's hands as that triumphant crinkle surrounding his visible eye appeared, "You all are impossible."

He didn't say anything as he quietly took the box from her grip and headed out the door. Before he exited her bedroom Kakashi turned around to face her, "One of us will stay until you fall asleep to make sure you don't try anything…Sakuraish. You can come and get your paperwork tomorrow…after you have rested."

With that said he turned back around and shut her door, ensuring that she wouldn't be able to do anything but sleep.

Sometimes she really hated how well they all knew her.

Almost regretfully she slipped into her oversized black t-shirt and a pair of her black spandex shorts. Without another moment's notice, and of course a few curse words on behalf of the three men sitting in her living room, Sakura slipped under her covers and fell asleep.

* * *

Sakura quickly stepped out of the shower, intent on tracking down at least one of the three men in her life. She had rested, she had eaten, she had even cleaned herself up and gotten the three day old dried blood splatters out of her hair. Now it was time they gave her all of her stuff back.

Now the real question was which one was she going to con her things from? Sasuke? No, he was probably at his clan house and she had made it her personal mission to never set foot inside of the Uchiha walls. It was of course a silly notion, one that she would inevitable have to break but as long as it was possible she was staying as far away from the Uchiha clan as possible. She had watched them torment her teammate for too many years to talk to them civilly. Then of course there was that other factor, namely Itachi Uchiha. The bastard had been her personal nemesis all throughout her childhood. She didn't even remember what started it, just that Itachi had this personal mission to ruin her life at every chance he got. Thankfully she had gone to study with Tsunade when she was about seven. Sakura was quickly shipped out of the village and away from her personal terrorists. When she eventually came back he left her alone. They hadn't ran into each other once and she prayed to the high heavens that he didn't remember her, that or he had matured enough to leave her alone. Of course, she would prefer the lack of memory scenario better. Maybe like a good blow to the head or something. Itachi Uchiha was in the past and she had more important things to think about, like where her paperwork was.

Kakashi? No, the lazy idiot was too smart for anything she might pull. In fact, he was probably expecting her to head for him first. No doubt he had already decided that one day of rest wasn't enough of a healing period. That was how it usually worked after all.

Naruto? They are probably expecting her to inevitably go after Naruto. He was by far the most gullible out of all three of them; which meant that he probably didn't have a clue where all her stuff was.

Sakura smiled to herself as a realization hit her. Well there was a good idea. She loved it when she had her brilliant moments.

Time for some back up because she was going to need a little bit of help.

"Naruto!" yelled Sakura as she made her way to her long time friend.

Sakura watched as Naruto's eyes went wide when he saw her. She immediately ran up to him and gave him their traditional hug. "What'cha doing? Training? Sasuke here too?"

"Umm…I'm not supposed to talk to you until you talk to Kakashi," came his abnormally timid voice.

Sakura quickly processed this information. So she was right, Naruto was a dead end. Kakashi on the other hand was who they wanted her to see so that meant that Sasuke was who the two sharingon wielding experts wanted her to avoid…meaning Sasuke was her target.

"Sensei? But I just saw him, he wanted me to give a message to Sasuke," she pushed.

"He did? Oh…" Sakura watched as Naruto processed the situation, "alright. Hey bastard come out."

Suddenly Sasuke was standing before her in a flash, "You want something?"

Sakura smiled joyously at his soon to be predicament, "Why yes, I want my stuff back. I know you have it."

If she hadn't of known him so well she never would have seen the small dilation of his eyes, or the quick twitch of his right hand. "You're annoying, go and do something girly."

"And your avoiding the question, where is my stuff? In the tree?" she was given no response, "under the tree roots?" and then she was given her cue. While it wasn't much to go on she saw his finger twitch again.

"I hope you don't mind, I brought you two some sparring partners. I figured you were probably pretty sick of each other," she smiled as she walked over to the large tree where there was a known burrow between the roots.

Sasuke stepped in front of her but was stopped suddenly when another hand grabbed his own. Sasuke looked up to see the very last person he ever wanted standing before him. Seriously? Sakura had went to him?

"Neji," he growled.

"Quite civilized Uchiha. Miss Sakura has informed me that you have been rather incorrigible towards her as of late. I am finding this a perfect opportunity as grounds to have a rematch, since ours was never properly finished."

"This is low Sakura," said Sasuke as he watched his pink haired teammate pick up her bag from under the tree. "Naruto, stop her."

Suddenly a large yellow and orange blur rushed towards her…but never quite stopped. The figure went right over Sakura's head and strait into the tree. Sakura smiled as she watched her friend, "Maybe it's just me, but I believe that this tree feels the sudden urge for retribution against what you did to its cousin last night. Speaking of cousins, I believe you remember Hinata."

Naruto slowly got up from his position on the ground to look at the figure who had thrown him into the tree. "Hinata?"

The shy girl looked at him almost cautiously through her bangs, "I hope that didn't hurt, but Miss Sakura must finish her work. I would personally like to know my schedule for next week."

"You work at the hospital?" asked Naruto in a baffled manner.

"Idiot! Stop talking to her and attack!" yelled Sasuke as he dodged a quick kick from Neji that was aimed for his head.

Naruto looked at his best friend like he was crazy, "You have got to be kidding! I can't attack her! She's not even an active ninja anymore! And she's…Hinata!"

Sakura smiled as she walked away from the ongoing battles, well, battle. She had already won the fight against Naruto. There was no way he would ever truly attack Hinata. Even if he did, while Hinata was no longer on active roster, she was still more than capable of handling Naruto.

Oh, the joys of winning.

* * *

Kakashi looked at his poor excuses of former students, "So she got her stuff back."

It wasn't a question, or even a statement. It was more like an accusation.

Sasuke looked to the left while Naruto scratched his head in a guilty fashion. "Well technically not all of it. You still have some of it you know."

Kakashi's only visible eye rose.

Naruto's confidence plummeted, "Okay, yeah, she got all her stuff back."

Suddenly another voice made itself known and effectively interrupted their conversation. Even with the interruption, and the reprieve from Kakashi's glare, no one was happy to hear the familiar voice. This voice was cold, calculating, predatory, "Sasuke."

Sasuke looked towards the new voice to see none other than his father standing in the doorway. Fugaku Uchiha was not known for kindness, not even towards his own family members. He was a hard man who followed the unwritten rules of what it meant to be an Uchiha. In his mind there was only one way of doing things, and that was to be the best. If anyone fell short of that they were deemed not only inconsequential but a failure never to be forgiven. Obviously, the man had impossible standards; standards which he expected his sons to follow. "Yes father?"

"Your mother and I are expecting you for dinner tonight, to make up for last night of course," said the figure in the doorway.

"Yes father, I understand. Thank you for letting me train last night," answered back Sasuke. The others gave no comment to the situation, even though both of them knew that Sasuke had been with them last night, and not training.

"Your brother will also be joining us. He is back from his mission in Wave, so I suggest you show up," with that his father left the room and headed back out the door.

"Your dad is such an ass, I don't know how you stand him," said Naruto while scratching his head.

"He really hates Kakashi, that's all," said Sasuke while looking at his sensei that was already imbedded in his book. It appeared that during some point of the conversation with Sasuke's father, Kakashi had pulled out the familiar orange. No one questioned it, it was just Kakashi's way. Besides, when you were as good as him no one felt the need to question his methods.

Naruto looked at the silver haired man, "Why? He's just a perv who reads those stupid books."

Said silver haired man looked up at his students while contemplating their unasked question. Both had been pushing for some time to know why Fugaku hated the Copy Ninja so much and Kakashi was beginning to think it would be easier to just tell them rather than evade the question for so many more years.

Kakashi sighed, Sakura really was getting to him if he was willing to share, well…anything.

"Your father and I have never gotten along. Well, he has never liked me anyways. He was always competing with me when he was on active roster even though he was older than me. I guess he felt the pressure to be better. It did not help matters when his son decided to look towards me as a goal to reach versus him. And then of course Sasuke were assigned to my team, that did not help his anger," he answered while getting back to his book.

Naruto looked at his friend and started to laugh, "You actually look up to Kakashi as an idol?" and then the laughing continued.

Sasuke glared and tried to answer back but Kakashi cut him off, "I did not say it was Sasuke. It is actually the older of the two brothers that I was referring to."

Both Sasuke and Naruto turned their attention back towards Kakashi in disbelief.

Kakashi gave them one glance over and then decided it was time to make an exit. He had spent enough time with them for the day. With that he was gone in a small puff of gray smoke, without a word and without a good-bye.

* * *

That night the entire Uchiha head household sat at the dinner table. There was no laughter, no sharing of the day's adventures just the silent scraping of food being shuffled around on plates. It was of course during this silence that a certain Sasuke Uchiha felt in necessary to ask his question. Despite his proper upbringing Sasuke was friends with Naruto and sometimes troublemaker just rubbed off on a person.

"Father, how long have you known Kakashi?"

His father looked up from his meal in order to stare properly at his son, "Long enough. Why do you feel the need to ask Sasuke?"

"You just don't seem to like him very much and I was wondering why," asked Sasuke skeptically. All in all he wasn't sure he wanted to ask this question, he knew all too well how his father's temper could get.

"I have no quarrel with Hayate son," the man said stiffly, in direct contradiction to his statement. Of course no one pointed it out. Fugaku obviously wanted this conversation over with and what he wanted, he got. So the topic was dropped in an instant, unfortunately leaving the room in an awkward quietness. The room was silent once again and Sasuke immediately felt the tension in the air thicken. Perhaps he should have kept his mouth shut.

"Itachi dear," came his mother's sweet voice, "I heard that you agreed to do a job for Jiraiya at the school, an at home mission. Is that true?

Itachi nodded his head, "It is, I will be supervising a group of academy students for a while."

"That is perfect. You have been so busy lately, now you will finally have time!" she said excitedly as she took a sip of water.

"Time? For what mother?" asked Itachi

"Well, the Uchiha elders have been talking with your father and I, they are wondering when you will settle down and start a family," she stated simply.

His father spoke next, "We must carry on our line, which is your duty along with ruling the clan."

His brother said nothing for a few moments before he looked at his mother, "I haven't found anyone…suitable yet."

"Nonsense," waved his mother, "I think you haven't been looking. There are plenty of eligible and prestigious women in this town. Just this morning I was talking to Keiko. Her daughter is just a few years younger than you. Shi, her daughter, is currently trying to get an internship at the Konoha Hospital. Our medics are very prestigious you know."

"That is a foolish match. Shi is not worthy of our blood if she is only some intern," countered Fugaku.

Sasuke watched as his brother said nothing to their parent's matchmaking. Maybe Itachi was used to it, but Sasuke knew he would have a much harder time keeping his patience if people were picking his wife.

His mother turned towards her youngest, "Sasuke, perhaps you know a medic who can help Shi out. There must be someone in your old class that you are close to."

Sasuke's mind immediately went to Sakura, but he kept his mouth shut. He could honestly say that he didn't know what Sakura did in that hospital of hers. He just knew that she worked long hours, she was always tired and she went on missions every now and then.

"If that girl cannot get in on her own then she has no business being part of our family. How hard could it be, after all, getting into a medic program? She is what, perhaps twenty or twenty one?" scoffed Fugaku. "They are trained early these days, starting in the academy years. She should have been working there long ago."

"Dear, Konoha medics are world renouned as the best. That is why they have a separate field and school," countered his wife.

"The medics have a separate field because the ninja of our village needed to keep the females out of the way so they built a school to keep them from interfering," argued Fugaku once again. "No female ninja could handle what a male ninja does."

Sasuke could see his mothers face fall at her husband words but said nothing. It was true after all. When he was fourteen a new law was placed by the Council. They said that women and men should be trained differently and in different schools of thought. Women were to be trained as medics or part time ninja's, men as full on ninja's. They were given different mission types, classes and were rarely seen working together.

Almost immediately team Kakashi had been disbanded. In fact, almost all the teams with women on them were disband. That was around the time that Hinata had left the active roster, as well as Ino. Tenten only went on brief missions, since she wasn't able to take as many missions at first. Tenten now owned her own weapons shop if he remembered correctly. He vaguely recalled Sakura rambling on about her friends; he of course wasn't paying any attention. The woman talked too much for his liking.

His mother turned back towards him, "Do you still talk to that girl on your team? I don't recall her name but if memory serves she was a medic was she not? Perhaps we should have a reunion for you, invite your entire team so as not to look suspicious."

"We are not inviting some incompetent girl into our house so you can set our son up with someone even more incompetent," argued his father.

Sasuke and Itachi's mother continued to ignore him, "Come to think of it, we never did meet her did we?"

"No, she has never been over," of course Sasuke left out the fact that Sakura had a strange aversion to everything Uchiha, and that her best friend was Hinata Hyuuga, the heiress to their rival clan.

"She is busy," was all he said as he took another bite, "apparently there is a seminar on paternal lineage that she is attending."

"Oh…" said his mother angrily, like it was his fault she was busy.

* * *

Sakura desperately looked at the moon that was rising above her. She couldn't believe how late it was. She had only meant to stop off at the hospital for a couple of minutes, just enough time to drop off the rounds for next week. But no, some ninja just had to get his liver sliced open with a blade. Honestly, ninja really needed to learn how to dodge because medics aren't as plentiful as people liked to believe.

She looked back up at the moon, her not so portable watch, and hoped Hinata wasn't too angry with her. Sure, she was an hour late but it wasn't like she had planned on healing someone that day. Then again, Hinata didn't really get angry, at least with her. She had only seen the woman angry a few times and luckily it was never directed at Sakura.

Without a noise she landed on the roof of the appropriate building, the_ Ninja Academy for Girls_. After the initial separation a separate school had been built for the female nin's of Konoha, across town from the _Ninja Academy for Boys_. At the time the female population was furious about the ruling but now…it was rather nice.

Female and male ninja really did need different training. Not because one group was weaker or stronger but because each possessed different skills that needed to be honed in on. Though…many of the female ninja were still taught the same skills that the male ninja were, the Council just didn't know that. Honestly speaking though, there were really two main differences in the gender styles.

The first one was secrecy. Overall, the kunoichi of the village were given the seduction or infiltration missions and that required a whole new set of skills. This was like role play, being covert and still being stealthy while creating the maximum amount of damage possible. Sakura wasn't an idiot. She knew it was very rare for a female ninja to go into a full on war combat like fight with twenty missing nin like a male ninja would. In fact, since female missions were usually based on secrecy, it was usually considered a failure if there was a full fledge fight.

Then of course there was the second reasoning to keep the ruling. The medic work that they taught here was imperative. Women were naturally more prone to medical work over men, and this provided the perfect atmosphere to learn such skills. The teachers didn't have to worry about the male ninja's putting down their students and the students could focus on whatever they wanted to study, without any interference.

Sakura quietly slipped through one of the windows and landed gracefully into what she knew was Hinata's room. The light was thankfully on and the woman that she had known for so long was sitting at her desk, working on papers.

"Grading?" asked Sakura as she walked to her friend.

Hinata looked up and smiled, "Yeah…they are doing really well on their history of the nations. Lowest grade so far is an eighty three."

Sakura smiled, "That is good. Sorry about being late today, you know how the hospital is."

Hinata did know, she was a nurse there after all, "Are you sure you just aren't turning into your old sensei?"

Sakura growled, "Oh that is not funny…did you have fun with Naruto today?"

Hinata smiled too, "Yes, let me finish this last grading and we can leave for dinner."

Sakura put her hands behind her head and leaned back a bit, "Don't worry about it, I'm still gloating about you throwing Naruto into that tree."

Hinata let loose a small giggle as her cheeks turned a slight pink, "I hope I didn't hurt him."

"Naruto could get a pole thrown threw him and he'd still be walking around," Sakura countered.

"Oh," said Hinata as she put away the last test into the file cabinet behind her, "do you think you could come in some time and do a demonstration for some of my girls. I wanted to talk to them about choosing whether to be a medic or a ninja. Some even think they can do both."

Sakura smiled, "No problem, though I can't give a specific date, you know how my schedule is. I'm also going on a solo mission tomorrow, but it should only take a few days."

Hinata gave another laugh as she picked up her bag, "I'll just put aside whatever we are teaching at the time, and in case anyone asks, where exactly are you?"

"A paternal lineage conference out in Wave. Thanks for covering by the way. I can't image the chaos that would ensue if the boys really knew what I was up to." Sakura made a quick face, "Our little Sakura could get a splinter, she needs to stay home," she said mockingly while helping her friend lock the door behind her.

Hinata made no attempt to hide her laugh, "They are just protective over you. You know you are their whole world. You should give them a break."

To this day Sakura was still amazed at the differences in personalities Hinata had. When she was around her friends or in a comfortable environment Hinata was so much more confident. She took and gave orders, requested things and didn't stutter. It was always a nice switch. This all changed whenever she was around men who saw it fit to order her around needlessly. Then she became shy, submissive and unable to say her own name properly.

Tonight was not about the men in their lives though, so Sakura refused to dwell on it further. Tonight they were celebrating nothing in particular, just the fact that they were able to see each other during the week, and Sakura didn't want anything to spoil it. Together the two walked out and headed towards the middle of the town, intent on eating something entirely awful for their figures.

* * *

Itachi was not in the best of moods. He had spent all of last night discussing his lack of a wife to his father for at least three hours after dinner, spent another two with his mother and now he was being forced to attend some academy disaster zone. He had been woken up by the abrupt smell of fire. The smoke was far off as far as he could tell, but the fact that part of the village was up in flames wasn't something he wanted to dwell on.

Immediately he was out of bed and pulling on a pair of black sweats. Without anything else on he pulled a mesh shirt from off the floor, which he had worn that morning, and jumped out of his window.

Being as fast as he was it didn't take an incredible amount of time to find the source of the flame. Even with his ability to keep a stone face under the most cruel of circumstances Itachi's mouth parted just slightly.

_The Ninja Academy for Boys_ was up in flames…the entire thing.

Out of the corner of his eye Itachi saw three Anbu run into the building, obviously looking to see if anyone was inside. Figuring that they were more than capable of taking care of that Itachi began on the fire currently engulfing his old school.

Almost on instinct he summoned forth a water jutsu in order to take care of the flames, only to find out that this was no regular fire. This was chakra induced. Someone had been using a fire jutsu to cause this. For a second time he let loose another water jutsu, this one was more powerful and laced with his own chakra. He doubled the amount of hand signals while running around the building, water streaming from his hands. Smoke billowed from the various spots he had managed to put out but there was still more. Eventually more ninja's arrived on the scene, each adding their own stream of chakra filled water.

Almost immediately the fire was put out.

Suddenly an Anbu was standing next to him, "Lord Itachi, thank you for helping with the flames. We were able to get the boys out of the building while you did so."

"I am guessing that they were the ones to start the fire," it wasn't really a question and they both knew it, "How many?"

"Six boys sir," came the masked man's response.

The owner and founder of the school was quickly next to the two ninja. He was older, his white hair glistening in the moon's rays. Even with his age the older gentleman was well fit, strong and mentally as young as any ten year old boy. He also had the mental capacities as one, at least in accordance to most of the female population, "Anyone hurt?"

"No Master Jiraiya," bowed the Anbu.

Jiraiya had become the head of the male shinobi school as soon as it had been founded, the Hokage had gone to great lengths in order to make sure the elusive man was found. Though, Itachi hadn't the faintest idea who was in charge of the female division. You would think he would, since his family was the major leading force in the initial separation of the sexes.

"Good, now I can properly skin them. Over half of the building is destroyed," said the Toad Sage in dismay. Honestly speaking Jiraiya wasn't sure what to do. They still had students to teach and no building to do it in. What's more, they were also integrating their new supervision program this week. High ranking ninja were coming in to show many of the students what it was like to be on a ninja team and what to expect. How was all of that supposed to happen now?

The three watched as more and more men came to aid in the field, picking up debris and putting out small meaningless fires. The field was a mess and it would take more than a couple of days to repair the damage. No, this was more like a couple of months.

A chuunin decided that now was the time to talk but mostly, place blame. With him he brought the six boys who were the cause of all this chaos. Said six boys, who were all attempting to hide behind this one chuunin, bowed their heads in shame. Obviously they knew what they did was wrong, and what's more, they had done major damage. Of course, that wasn't what they were really upset about. No, the boys were more upset over the fact that they had gotten caught. They were undoubtedly going to be punished severely for this.

Itachi quickly concluded that they couldn't have been older than maybe nine or ten. They were charred and short of breath, which was understandable if they were in the middle of the mess like the conclusion suggested.

Jiraiya stepped forth to face the six academy student in front of him, "You boys are lucky no one was hurt, and that Lord Uchiha was here to put out the rest of the flames. What were you doing practicing such an advanced level of jutsu?"

"We just wanted to try it," came one of the small boy's reposes, though Itachi could easily tell that none of the boys were taking Jiraiya's words seriously. Instead they were looking at him, the infamous Uchiha who graduated from the academy in a year. The same Uchiha who made Anbu at such a young age. They were looking at the legend that had cleaned up their mess.

"You wanted to try burning down half of our school?" asked Jiraiya.

The six boys immediately felt their blushes run from their cheeks all the way down to their toes. It wasn't just for being reprimanded, but for being reprimanded in front of their idol. Yes, the six had stupidly enough been trying to learn a fire jutsu and managed to burn down half of the building belonging to the academy for the male population. Overall, this was not good at all. There was no way the school or Council could find a place to train and teach the up and coming ninja in such a short amount of time.

A council man, old and gray from what Itachi could tell, walked up to the group. The remaining glow from the fire surrounded him, giving him a deathly sheen across his face. It was rather fitting since as a Council member he would have a say in the children's punishment, "What are we to do Jiraiya, there is no school for you to lead."

Jiraiya sighed, "Unfortunately, I think I am going to have to ask for a favor…one that I am sure to regret."

The council men stopped to blink in confusion, "You have an empty building in mind?"

"No…not quiet. My old teammate Lady Tsunade runs the girls division across town. The only thing I can think of is to ask if we could temporarily share a building."

* * *

A soaring empty bottle of sake went flying through the room as a man in a jounin vest ran out, the bottle just skimming his head, "Thank you Lady Tsunade!"

A busty blonde woman stepped out from her office, "That wart-on-the-wall better not let me find him!"

Another woman, this one with bright pink hair, stepped out from the staircase that the man was sprinting down. She looked at Shizune, the woman at the front desk, in question, "Did Tsunade just throw a bottle of sake at someone?" she asked in disbelief. Her mentor was known for licking a bottle of sake clean so as not to lose an ounce of flavor. Tsunade must be angry as hell to let something like that go to waste.

Shizune smiled, "I assure you, it was empty. Lady Tsunade would never waste sake on someone other than herself."

Sakura smiled, "Any idea what it's about?"

Shizune shook her head, "Not a clue…you want to take a chance and go in there? You know you are the only one who can calm her down."

"Sakura! Get your skinny ass in here!" screamed the strangely sober voice.

Sakura sighed, "To late to run now…I'll see what I can do," she whispered to Shizune.

With that said she stepped into the cluttered and chaotic office, "Damn, Shizune and I just filed everything in here too."

Sakura quickly stepped up to her mentor who was glaring at the wall. Sakura briefly wondered if there was a crack, or a bug on it, since it obviously held her mentor's attention. Was there something she was missing? Perhaps Tsunade had finally given herself a nice healthy batch of alcohol poisoning and was hallucinating her ass off. No, the woman sounded sober just moments ago. Tsunade was good but she wasn't that good, "Anyone you want me to kill? Or would you like the honors?"

Tsunade spun around as quick as lightning, "I knew something was going to happen when I won that bet with Shizune last night, I just never thought it would be this bad! That stupid frog is coming to our school! His students couldn't handle a little fire jutsu and the building is burnt down. The idiot didn't even have the guts to face me himself! He sent it in a note! The 'request' is what he calls it. That's a load of bull. A request doesn't come with an order from the Council if you refuse! The dumb ass!"

"I see you are angry…though I don't know why," said Sakura amiably, "just put them in the crappy building that we never use. You know, the one that they originally gave us."

Tsunade groaned as she flopped down into her chair, "I can't! The Council has already done room arrangements! Some of my girls are even going to have to share a room with the Neanderthals!"

Sakura's face paled. So maybe this wasn't so good.

"That's not even the worst part…" mumbled Tsunade.

Sakura's eyes widened, "There's more?" she said in disbelief.

"Jiraiya in implementing a new supervisor workshop. Jounin's and even a few Anbu are being asked to come in and help supervise the academy students. He wants his students to see firsthand what it is like as a ninja. They will be put on mock teams so it isn't just the students and teachers we are housing but…actual freaking ninja!"

Tsunade immediately swiped her latest bottle of sake from under her desk drawer, taking a large gulp, "I need a favor Sakura…I need to you and your friends to keep an eye on them and make sure none of those idiots burn down _my_ school."

**

* * *

**

Firevixen73

- I know almost no Itachi/Sakura interaction, but I promise there will be plenty. I wanted to give a foundation to the story first. Also, I want to make it clear that Sakura and Itachi know each other from when they were kids. The beginning part was their first interaction and you will see their relationship progress as the story goes on. Please review, it will make my day and help me update faster! 


	2. A Weekend Without Sakura

_It was slightly breezy out when a little girl with bright pink hair stepped out into the brisk air. Luckily the nice Hyuuga people had donated a few jackets to the orphanage. This was the main reason why the little girl in pigtails was able to keep herself warm._

_Sakura quickly glanced around the doorframe for any watching 'guards', as she liked to call them. When she realized that none of the older kids were outside, and being their normal bully selves, she sprinted for the gate that led to the outside world._

_Her little legs could barely carry her but she eventually made it over to the white picket fence with the old and chipped paint. Without another word the little three year-old was standing in the street, wide eyed and glancing around in every direction. She had never made it this far before. Usually someone stopped her…now what was she supposed to do?_

_Sakura again glanced from her right to her left, and then back to her right again, her pigtails slapping her face with each movement. Slowly she turned around to face the orphanage once again. The building seemed bigger than she was used to, with its two story height and big front doors. Maybe she should go back, because now that she thought about it she wasn't sure if she had made her bed this morning or not._

_But then again, she really wanted to find this library thing that the older kids talked about. All they had were picture books in the orphanage and Sakura really wanted to learn how to read like all the older kids did._

_With determination in her eyes the little girl took a few steps away from her home, intent on finding the place with more of the pretty books for her to look at. Then she burst into a run, thinking that the mean lady was going to yell at her and make her go back…again. When she made it around a few more blocks the little girl quickly decided that she liked the town a whole lot more than she liked the orphanage. There were so many more people!_

_Of course they all ignored her but that was okay, she was kind of used to that. Quite easily she weaved in and out of the people's legs, with of course having no idea where she was going. When she made it around another corner she saw that it was empty. So, she merry skipped along the road, oblivious to the small tan colored dog three blocks down._

_Said small dog stopped as he picked up a particular scent. It was a familiar scent, but different at the same time. He immediately decided to investigate. So without further hesitation he weaved in and out of the people on the street, following the disturbing scent that had caught his attention._

_Sakura, who was oblivious to the world, continued on with her pace, until she reached a very large building with a very familiar crest on it. She froze. The symbol on the side, it looked like a fan!_

_The girl's eye's grew wide as she took in the situation. The boy, the boy that was really mean to her had that same fan on his back! Oh, he was a mean boy, she couldn't eat for a whole day because of him! Sakura stomped her foot at the memory. If she was bigger she'd tell his mommy all over again-_

_She was cut off from her rant when a strong force threw her to the ground. She could feel her palms scrapping as they hit the sidewalk, her knee's quickly following._

"_Oh, I'm sorry little girl. My cousin is being well, himself, and I didn't see you," came a strong voice from up above her._

_Sakura tried to hold back her tears as she lifted up her palms to her face, inspecting the blood._

"_Oh god, you're going to cry. I don't do well with crying kids, well, with crying anything really. Damit Itachi! This is all your fault!" yelled the voice._

_Sakura once again froze as she heard the name register. The name sounded really familiar. She shook her head, no, she didn't remember who that was. So, on that realization she began to cry again._

_The voice became closer and once again tried to comfort her, "Here, let me see. My name is Shisui, what's yours?"_

_Sakura finally looked up from her bleeding palms and into the boy's eye's, "Sakuwa," she sniffled._

"_Sakura? That's pretty, I am really sorry about that by the way. I don't know how I missed you with that hair of yours," said Shisui with a smile._

_Sakura smiled as well, that is until she looked up and around to figure out where she was. Her eye's locked with the mean boy, Itachi had effectively come around the corner to tell off his cousin for yelling at him, she had met earlier, "You," she yelled angrily._

_Itachi's own eyes widened as well when he recognized her. It was the brat! What the hell? What was she doing here? Come to break another leg just as he got his cast off? God, it had been a week since the doctor's and already the brat was back for more. Two months! That was how long he was not allowed to fight! And then the stupid kid just shows up out of the blue?_

_Shisui's voice cut in, "You know Itachi?"_

"_Dat's the mean boy!" she quickly turned to face the boy who had knocked her over, "Your fwiends with him!"_

_Sakura stood up and glared at Itachi and his cousin, her wounds completely forgotten, "You must be mean too!"_

_Shisui glared at his younger cousin, "What did you do to this poor little girl Itachi?"_

"_The brat it the one that kicked me," he said with a glare._

_Shisui stopped where he was as that sentence processed. He spun on his heels to face the little girl, "You're the one who kicked Itachi's ass?"_

_Sakura covered her mouth as her eyes went wide, "You said a bad word! You said a bad word!"_

_Neither one of them saw Itachi's smile. Neither one of them realized that he was going to get even for the broken leg, "What? Ass?"_

_Sakura covered her ears as Itachi spoke._

_Itachi immediately said it again when he saw how distressed she was, "Ass."_

_Sakura closed her eyes as she continued to cover her ears, "Stop it! Your jewk, you are gonna get me in twouble!"_

"_Whose getting in trouble?" asked a calm and soothing voice. It was most definitely feminine and had an air of tenderness about it._

_Sakura looked up to see the same woman from before, the one that had been with the mean boy when he was at the orphanage. The women frowned when she took in the sight of Sakura's scrapped up knee's, palms and clothes, as well as the distraught look on the young girls face._

"_Itachi, you've had that cast off a maximum of five days and you are already acting reckless? What did you and Shisui do to this poor thing?" said the woman in a stern and commanding voice, one that only a mother can give properly. It seemed like the smooth and loving tone that had come out earlier was completely gone, instead it was replaced with something much more fierce. The woman stepped towards Sakura and tried to look at the scrapes properly._

"_The mean boy said a bad word!" yelled Sakura as she tried to find comfort in the woman's embrace. She did not want to get in trouble for something that the mean boy did, not again anyways._

_Sakura did not see the woman's glare harden at her words. She did though, see the mean boy cringe._

"_Itachi! You know we do not allow those words in our household! You are eight years old, not seventeen! Even then you know those words are not allowed! You are grounded for a week Itachi, and that includes ninja work as well," said the woman in a stern voice._

_Itachi's glare hardened, "Bu-"_

"_Another week for doing god knows what to this little girl as well," said Mikoto as her son attempted to argue with her._

_Itachi shut his mouth, realizing that his mother meant business. She had that tone again. The one he heard every time the little pink haired hell spawn was around. There was no way this was happening! He was just put back on active duty and the brat get's him pulled off again! This little girl was going to pay for this._

"_I just don't understand Itachi. You are usually so in control and mature, what is with you. First that girl at the orphanage and now this one-" the woman stopped as realization hit her. She looked back down at the girl in her arms, "It's you. You are the same little girl aren't you?"_

_Sakura looked down at her feet, "Are you gonna tell Miss Gruin that I'm not at the owphanage? I pwomise I'll go wright back after I find the place with the books! I don't want to get in twouble!"_

_The woman smiled, "How old are you?"_

_Sakura's face lit up, "Twee, but I'm almost fouwr!" said Sakura as she held up the correct number of fingers._

_The woman smiled, "You certainly are a little doll aren't you." The woman turned Sakura east and pointed through a few buildings, "See that building with the big green doors?"_

_Sakura nodded as the building came into view._

"_That is the library. I am guessing that is where you were trying to go. Though, you are extremely young to be reading. Even my little Sasuke hasn't started yet," said Mikoto._

_Sakura looked up bashfully, "Well, I don't know how to rwead yet, but I'm gonna teach myself."_

"_What a smart little girl you are. Now you go get your books and this little outing will be kept between you and me. I promise I won't tell anyone, okay?" smiled the kind woman._

_Sakura's face brightened as she nodded her head vigorously._

_The woman kissed Sakura on her somewhat large forehead and gently nudged her through the alley way, insuring that Sakura was going in the right direction. Once the little girl was gone she turned to her son and his cousin, "Shisui, follow her and make sure she gets there, okay?"_

_Shisui smiled, "Yes Lady Uchiha," and with that the boy was gone in a swirl of wind._

_Itachi, for his own part, looked directly at his mother but did not say a word. He knew how his mother could get. She could be fierce and extremely demanding when she wanted to be. Even his father had a hard time standing up to her when she really wanted something. She had never lived the Shinobi lifestyle and did not understand how important training was to him. In fact, her and his father bickered constantly about him being a ninja. His father wanted to advance him further, while his mother wanted him to stay back as a genin for a few more years. She though he needed more socializing and less death. _

_If he would have been hating the little pink haired girl a little less and surveying the situation a little more, he would have realized that his mother was using his confrontations with the girl to get her way in a legitimate fashion. The delay of the broken leg that kept him back as a genin for another six months at least, and this next week of training where him and his team were supposed to be leaving for a B class mission in the morning. Of course, he was too angry about said pink haired girl to even care that his mother was manipulating the situation to her advantage and against his father. All he knew was that his spotless record of obedience and perfection was being ruined by a little three year old brat. The damn kid was more annoying that his brother, and that was saying something._

"_You will go to headquarters and take yourself off of the roster Itachi. Two weeks, those are my conditions," said his mother in a stern voice._

"_You want _me_ to do it?" asked Itachi in surprise._

"_Would you rather I do it? While telling them that you are grounded for picking on a little girl?"_

_Itachi contemplated the situation. No, he would rather do it himself. At least this way he would be in control of the rumors that spread. Itachi looked towards the tower where he was to report as he watched his mother walk away. She would reach the house in ten or so minutes, which is when she will expect him to be back. The trip to the tower should take a total of five, leaving him four to five minutes to spare. The orphanage was on the way, he thought while smirking, and he had the sudden urge to meet this Miss Gruin. And if his sighting of the brat should happen to be mentioned, well, that would just be horrible for the little runaway now wouldn't it._

* * *

Sakura stood outside of the gates of Konaha as she contemplated the best way to complete her mission. It was in Sound, one of their leading enemies, so she knew she would have to be on guard. There would be nothing in the world that would make Orochimaru happier than her capture. Luckily, the Sound village was her specialty so she knew she would have no problem moving about all on her own. It was getting the captured team member's out that was going to be the problem.

Leaf teams were being attacked, any survivors were being captured and Kabuto was stupidly demanding a ransom. Apparently there were two in one of his liars which were still alive. Sakura had to keep herself from scoffing. As if Tsunade would ever let the Hokage agree to that. Sakura smirked, at least not while she was around.

With a snap of her black leather clad fingers a swirl of mist formed in the young kunoichi's previously empty palm. When the grey mist settled the top half of a cat mask rested in her palm.

It was white with black whiskers and black lined eyes. The catlike ears rested on the top of the mask while the hollowed out eyes allowed for her vision to take in all of its surroundings. It narrowed down a bit into a catlike nose with a black tip on the end, the whiskers painted on near the base of said nose. But then the mask stopped, like the bottom half had been chopped off, leaving her mouth and chin exposed when resting on her face. This was done on purpose. Women of the Leaf village had a strong reputation for being the best medics around. The ninja's soon noticed that during raids their medics, when they were identified, were not touched. The enemy ninja's did all they could to protect the medics so they could possibly capture and use them later. It was then that all women in Anbu were issued the new masks, whether medic or not. It was a good identifier and kept them alive long enough to either heal their team or get away to find enforcements.

Sakura looked up towards the blackened sky as she again reviewed her mission. Get the two joinin out of Orochimaru's lair, get back to Kohona and never tell the boys about her weekend. She sighed, it sounded like every other week to her.

With another sigh she placed the mask on her face while adjusting her senses to the new 'environment'. She was gone not a second later, heading to the newly located sound base.

* * *

Hinata could not believe her luck, or rather, lack thereof. She stared at the posted room assignment yet again, but it still read the same thing. She was sharing a room with a bunch of shinobi. She and her girls were sharing a room with arrogant, pushy and better than anyone else shinobi.

You had got to be kidding her.

"Oh, looks like Hinata go the worst end of the deal," said someone to her left.

Hinata slowly turned towards the voice, careful to have her mask in play. She let loose a gentle and calming smile, while speaking in her 'quiet' and 'servant' like voice, as Sakura liked to call it. "I-I am just happy no one was h-hurt and everyone came out of the fire safely."

The fact that she was quiet and almost stuttering should have told everyone how uncomfortable and unhappy she was with the situation.

With that said Hinata docilely walked over to her classroom where her awaiting students, and guests, were setting up class. Before she entered the classroom she made sure to take in a deep breath of calming ninja free air. It was just a few ninja, like the old days when she was a genin.

Hinata let out her breath with a silent groan, she had _hated_ her genin days.

With that last thought on her mind she opened up the classroom door only to be met with complete and utter chaos. The room was a mess. Chalk pieces and dust covered the room, tables were overturned and chairs were tossed about everywhere. Ninja boys were running rampant as they tried to catch each other with their weapons.

And then there were her girls, her sweet innocent little girls who had done nothing wrong. They were huddled in the corner, gripping each other like their lives depended on it. They looked like they were about to be attacked by a bunch on enemy nin. Then again, Hinata would take the enemy nin any day, she thought while frowning.

You could _attack_ enemy ninja.

"Class, could you please take your seats?" came her calm voice.

Her girls, recognizing their saving grace at once, quickly ran to the seats nearest to their teacher. The boys of course ignored her. Then again, they were ninja, she wasn't expecting anything less.

"Alright boys, shape up and get in your seats before I tan your hides!" yelled a voice from behind her.

Hinata immediately turned around to see none other than Jiraiya standing in the doorway. Miraculously enough the rowdy boys started to file into their seats.

Jiraiya smiled as the students listened to him, "Now as you can see, were are having to do with what we have available to us because of the fire. The Ninja Academy for Girls has lent us their school for the time being. I know this is a big change for us but let's make the best of it."

He turned to Hinata, "Just hit them if they get to out of line."

Then he tried to walk out, but even timid little Hinata wasn't going to let that happen.

"W-Wait," though she was still in her quiet voice, "Do they not h-have a teacher here?"

The smiling man turned around while scratching the back of his head. That was not a good sign, "Well, not technically, see this is the group that is supposed to have the supervisory ninja's come in for the next few weeks. Their teachers are actually out on missions since I figured you could handle their remaining school time."

If Hinata had not been trained her entire life to be a proper lady with manners her jaw would have hit the floor.

"A-and when will their other instructors be h-here?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Oh, by the end of the day at the latest. Just think, that gives you some time to get to know the future ninja's of the village. Maybe they can teach your girls something," and he was gone before anything else could be said.

Hinata turned to the group of seven and eight year olds before her. The girls had their notebooks out attentively ready to take notes while the boys were a whole other story. One was sleeping, two were shooting rubber bands, one was making an airplane, three more were picking on her girls and…and the list just went on.

Great, just great.

* * *

"Sasuke dear," came his mother's melodious voice.

Sasuke cringed; his mother had said dear, never a good sign. Here he was, sitting at the dinner table and minding his own business and somehow he was once again dragged into the argument. No, he took that back, Uchiha's don't argue they…discussed until everyone around them agreed with them.

"Sasuke, why aren't you participating in the student program? Your brother picked up his students this afternoon and they are adorable, if not a bit rowdy. It was nice seeing young ones around the house again. Perhaps your team and his team could practice together."

"I don't do kids," was all he said, hoping the conversation was null and void at that point.

"But Sasuke, you must learn and practice for when you have your own children. This would be wonderful experience," she countered.

Sasuke attempted to stop his eye from twitching, he knew better than to argue with his mother about this particular topic but…Sakura was rubbing off on him, "I don't want kids."

"Sasuke Uchiha! Did you just deny your mother grandchildren! I cannot believe those words came out of your mouth!" she all but yelled.

"They are annoying," he countered while trying to take a drink of his water as he debated hightailing it to the door. His father could not catch him, and his mother wouldn't even know what to think. Then he glanced to his side where his brother sat. Stupid bastard could catch him easily, and undoubtedly he'd enjoy it to, just to watch his little brother squirm. Not many people know how sadistic Itachi really was.

Sasuke glanced again at his older brother and suppressed a growl. The fucker was smiling which meant he knew what Sasuke was planning. Of course Itachi would never let him through. Not only would be sadistic and stop him, he would act like nothing in the world had happened while doing so. Sasuke turned his attention back towards his mother, "You'll get plenty of grandchildren when Itachi settles down, you know, if he ever does."

Sasuke immediately felt the familiar shiver run down his back the moment the words left his mouth. Yeah, Itachi would kick his ass later for bringing up the topic once it had finally made it off the table but for now, it was worth it. At least that was what he kept telling himself, he could only pray that it was true.

"Your brother is right Itachi, you have to settle down sometime and take over the clan," said Fugaku. It was the first time he had spoken during the entire dinner. This was obviously the first note worthy topic to involve himself in. It was Fugaku's style to dictate another about their life, in Sasuke's opinion it was his favorite part of being clad head. Then of course he had the infamous Itachi Uchiha as his son which made it even better. The man had no problem taking the credit for raising him to be strong.

"It is being handled father," spoke Itachi smoothly.

No one said anything after that, and once again Sasuke was cursing his brother's ability to dominate a conversation. How he managed to shut up their father he would never know...not that he would ever ask. There were just somethings Uchiha's didn't do, like asking for advice or help.

A knock sounded on the sliding door as one of the many servants silently made her entrance, "Lord Sasuke, Master Naruto is here to see you."

Sasuke looked over at the clock, what could the dobe want now? The idiot knew how his family was, there was no interruptions during 'family' time.

Before he could answer his mother cut in, "Oh let him in right away," she yelled excitedly, "and tell the others to set another plate for the boy."

Sasuke's mouth almost dropped, what the hell? His family hated the loud blonde, he was after all everything that an Uchiha wasn't. He was loud, uncouth, crude and spontaneous. As the servant skidded out of the room Sasuke surveyed his remaining family members. Itachi had the usual impassive look on, though he was staring at their mother. His father on the other hand was not so reserved.

"Mikoto what are you doing?" Fugaku demanded.

The woman clapped her hands together excitedly, "Getting Itachi a wife."

That time Sasuke's mouth did come crashing down, "Mom, I don't know about big bro but Naruto doesn't swing that way."

The sliding door once again opened and the overbearing blonde stepped into the doorway.

"Now hush Sasuke, I would never make such an accusation about your brother," she immediately turned her attention to Naruto but stuttered in whatever she was planning on saying next. Naruto was covered in scrapes and bruises. His clothing was torn and his hair was covered in dirt.

The battle worn ninja collapsed on his friend's floor muttering only one phrase, "Your turn."

Sasuke immediately felt his heart rate increase and his breathing quicken, "She left already?" he said in a panic while standing up.

"This morning," panted Naruto as he rolled over onto his back.

"Sasuke what is wrong? Who left? Why does Naruto look like he just came out of a warzone?" asked Mikoto hurriedly while ordering a cold washcloth for Naruto. The woman immediately let her motherly instincts take over as she tended to the poor boy. She gentle cleaned what scrapes and scratches she could reach in a type of way only a mother could do. Then again, Sakura was pretty damn good at it too. Maybe it was a woman thing.

Sasuke, not listening on any level, instantly went over to the nearest window and slammed the drapes shut, "Where did you lose him?"

"Couple miles back, though its Kakashi, he does not actually lose any of his targets, he just lets them think they got away," Naruto panted breathlessly.

Mikoto immediately turned towards her son, "Hatake? Why would he attack Naruto?"

Sasuke turned towards his family, "He sort of, freaks out when Sakura leaves. He's a little overprotective that way. The only way he can calm his nerves is through…intensive training. We get to play the part of sparing partners."

His mother's mouth formed an immediate 'o' at his words, "You still cannot beat him?"

Sasuke and Naruto looked on disbelievingly at the Uchiha matriarch, "Mom, _no one_ can beat him."

There was another knock on the door as the same maid from earlier stepped into the room, "Master Hatake is here to see Lord Sasuke."

The youngest Uchiha in the room felt his body heat completely leave his body, leaving him a new level of pale. What had Kakashi done, purposefully let Naruto reach here just in time to scare Sasuke to death and then come knocking. Actually, that sounded about right. Sasuke looked at Naruto who was half asleep on the floor, he then looked at the maid, "I'm not-"

But his mother cut him off, "Let the man in."

Mikoto was lucky Sasuke was not the type of man to hit a woman, let alone his mother. Did she not know what the hell she had just invited into their home? It was not a fellow ninja, or even an ex-teacher. It was hell with a porn book strapped to his hip. Nothing was worse than a worried Kakashi, he reached a whole new level of psycho during moments like this. "Mother! Are you trying to get me killed?"

"Nonsense Sasuke. Hatake is one of the best ninja's in the village, I am not about to deny him entry into my house. Could you imagine what a horrible hostess I would be viewed as?" she countered with a flick of her wrist.

The doors re-opened and Kakashi Hatake stepped into the room. A smile was on his face and not a scratch could be found on his body. Obviously Naruto had not given him a proper workout if he wasn't even flushed. Sasuke watched his hope fly out the window. He had hoped that Kakashi would be at least a little tired. "Hello Fugaku, Mikoto, Itachi. Sorry to interrupt your dinner."

Mikoto immediately stood and walked over to him, intent on giving him a hug as a greeting, "It has been to long Kakashi. Please sit, we were done anyways."

Kakashi took the seat next to Sasuke, aimlessly stepping over Naruto's form. He acted like it wasn't even there, let alone that he was the cause of it. Sometimes Sasuke had to wonder if Kakashi felt any real attachment to them at all. Maybe they really were chew toys to amuse him when Sakura was gone. "I really cannot stay long, though your hospitality is dually noted."

"Cannot two old friends just talk?" smiled Mikoto as she poured their new guest tea.

Sasuke and Itachi almost missed their father's grumblings over the laughter of Mikoto and Kakashi. It appeared that the Uchiha clan head was not happy at the dinners turn of events.

Kakashi smiled, he too was ignoring Fugaku, "What do you want Mikoto?"

Itachi watched as his mother's face turned a light pink color, "You know me well Hatake, even after all of these years."

Kakashi took a sip of his tea, "You were only this sweet when you wanted something you could not get on your own."

Sasuke paused mid-sip. Wait, his mother and Kakashi knew each other? This wasn't just polite pleasantry talk?

Mikoto bit her bottom lip, "As I am sure you know, Itachi is of age to marry and we are in the process of trying to find a suitable bride."

"You think I would know of a match that you do not?" asked Kakashi with a raised eye brow.

"No, but your old student might be able to help," she finished calmly. It was more than well known through the village that Kakashi hated anything political. He had avoided enough marriage proposals himself to make the statement clear. It was why the statement came as such a shock to the occupants in the room.

In all his years of knowing Kakashi Hatake, Sasuke had never seen the man turn personalities so quickly. One minute he was amiably sipping tea with his mother and the next minute it was like standing in the middle of a war room with two opposing countries that have been fighting for generations. The chill suddenly surrounding them would make someone from Snow shiver. Sasuke knew killing intent when he felt it and Kakashi was radiating it like a heat lamp. Why would Kakashi-

Fuck no!

Did his mother just suggest that Sakura, his little sister Sakura, be married to his bastard of a brother? Sasuke glanced to his right to see Naruto up and fully functioning, while ready to pounce on his unsuspecting family. It appeared that Sakura outmatched any injuries he may have sustained in the last few hours. Naruto would fight through the pain until the end if it ment putting even one smile on his little sisters face.

"It seems I struck a chord. Is there something wrong with that?" asked Mikoto.

"You do not plan on having your son marry her do you?" asked Kakashi accusatorily.

Mikoto immediately saw her mistake, "No," she quickly remedied, "I heard she worked in the hospital. I was just hoping she could help a potential candidate get a job there."

The room immediately raised a few degree's in temperature as the situation was thawing itself out. The killing air that filled the room dispursed moment by moment until it evaporated into nothingness. In fact, if one had notbeen in the room 20 seconds earlier someone arriving never would have guessed there was tension in the first place. They would have guessed that a nice family was having a nice dinner with a few visiting friends. They never would have known that Sasuke would have happily burned his own home down to the ground if his mother had said yes.

"Oh," the smile was back in place leading everyone who did not know better to believe nothing had been wrong in the first place, "Sakura does not control who is hired. That would be Shizune, she handles most of the administration stuff. Though, she has recently been in Wave for the past three weeks. Her duties have been scattered throughout the hospital until she returns."

Mikoto's eyes brightened, "Do you know who has been doing the hiring in her stead?"

"Hinata Hyuuga, the Hyuuga heiress."

"Hyuuga works at the hospital?" asked Fugaku, for the first time involving himself in the conversation.

"Yes," finished Kakashi as he once again sipped his tea.

Mikoto turned towards her husband, "How is it we do not know these things?"

Fugaku waived his hands in dismissal as the servants came to take the remainder of the dishes, "They are not Uchiha affairs Mikoto, they do not concern us."

It was obvious his wife disagreed but said nothing on the matter in front of company. No one could claim that she had superior ninja skills like her sons but no one could ever dispute she was anything but the apidamy of a perfect wife and hostess, and she planned on keeping that title. "So Kakashi, what does this Sakura of yours do? You were never one for fatherhood yet here you are defending this girl like any protective parent."

Kakashi smirked, "You are prying Mikoto."

"Cannot an old friend be curious? We could be related if my boy and your daughter married you know. My brother always wanted you to be related," she began, but Kakashi once again cut her off.

"That was a long time ago, besides, Naruto and Sasuke might die if Sakura had anything to do with Itachi. They consider her a sister as much as I consider her a daughter. Just last week they nearly drowned a civilian for looking at her longer than they thought he should have," he tried to finish the conversation with that but it seemed that Mikoto was not done with the topic.

"You saying that Sasuke does not think that Itachi is good enough for Sakura?" she asked amiably. She probably meat it as a joke, unfortunately Kakashi was not one for jokes when it came to his little girl. In fact, he was blaringly blunt to anyone who dared to approach the subject.

"You would have to ask him for his opinion but…Itachi is not who my first choice would be for my little girl."

Fugaku immediately started coughing as he pulled his drink away from his overflowing mouth. "Hatake, my son is a protégé, just as much as you were. He is the top ranking ninja on the field, and was an Anbu captain at age 14. He is to inherit the entire Uchiha clan and every power under it. Did you really just insinuate that he was not good enough for your daughter?"

Kakashi nodded his head, "I have rather high standards, one that Itachi has yet to meet. No offense but Itachi could never keep up with my little girl. She is not one to be…impressed by just anyone."

"I assure you Itachi would have your girl wrapped around his finger by the day's end," argued Fugaku.

No one missed the snickers coming from Sasuke and Naruto's direction, though surprisingly, no one took the bait and commented. Kakashi on the other hand, did take the opportunity to get the hell out of that dining room, "Sasuke, you will be training with me tonight."

Sasuke immediately looked at his former teacher, "But-"

"But nothing. You could use the extra workout," Kakashi smirked through his mask, "you have been eating too much of Sakura's cooking."

Sasuke stood while Naruto sat rooted to the floor, "Have fun getting your ass handed to you bastard."

"Shut up stupid…" he turned towards his best friend, "Sakura is never allowed to leave the village again."

Kakashi and Sasuke were gone after that, heading off to some distant field where no one could interfere in the fight. Naruto, seeing that his friend was gone immediately tried to stand but was cut off by Mikoto's arm on his shoulder, "Dear, how close are you with Hinata?"

* * *

Itachi sat in his room contemplating the dinner that had ended not twenty minutes ago. It was rare for a man like Hatake to become attached to anything, let alone a person. When he had first heard that Sasuke was on Hatake's team, that Hatake had even taken on a team, he had been shocked. To take on a team was to get attached, and to get close. That was something Hatake had never done.

Eventually the mystery of it faded and Itachi had chalked it up to pressure from the Hokage to take on a team of first years. Then of course the split had happened, with male and female ninja being separated into different categories.

Itachi, who was formerly laying on his back, turned in order to face the window as he contemplated the situation.

The division among genders was yet another thing his father and him had disagreed on. His father had been for the change whole heartedly while Itachi thought the division would weaken, not strengthen the village. Time was proving Itachi right, though his father would never admit it. More and more male ninja were dying on the field, since the medics were no longer available for immediate field treatments. Male medics were hard to find after all. The only way a team could temporarily get a medic on their mission was through a field request. The application for a one time field medic was extensive, and even then, the medic had to agree to join.

It was not worth the paper work or the possible rejection, at least at the moment. He knew most teams, including his own, often regretted not having someone with even basic medical knowledge on the field with them.

That thought brought him back to Hatake. This Sakura, while he was positive she was insignificant if she was taking refuge with friends like his brother and Uzumaki, was perhaps someone he should check into.

Itachi closed his tired eyes as his began to drift off to sleep. That name though, Sakura, it sounded somewhat familiar, but for life of him he could not remember where he might have heard it.

* * *

Said woman was currently in the underground base of a Sound branch village. They had been trying to infiltrate the other villages for quite some time. Sakura could only guess that they thought secret bases were the way to do this. Sound seemed to have them stationed all over. This one was bigger than most though.

It was on the side of a waterfall, the opening being the waterfall itself. Once inside there were a few smaller exits throughout the hideout, none of which could be found without knowing the exact location.

Sakura quickly scanned the area as she ran down one of the caves many hallways. She had spent hours studying the layout from Tsunade's map just the day before, but it was always different when you were in the actual situation. The main generator was in the very center of the base, surrounded by six or seven elite sound nin while the prison's keep was at the very end of the tunnel. Sakura could admire the Sound nin's ingenuity. It was smart to put the prisoner's at the back of the cave.

She slowly came to a halt as she came across a three way tunnel. Two of them led to the prison's keep but the question was, which one would have fewer guards? Sakura closed her eyes and let her chakra scan the available area. She concentrated on the unique sound vibrations that radiated from the sound nin…it always was a good sensor. Because of their specific manipulation of chakra their own daily chakra left a residue of sound vibrations that could only be sensed when one had immaculate concentration.

Sakura opened her eyes, seven ninja were down the corridor to the left and four to the right but that was not her concern right now. Sakura quickly jumped into the air and used a minuscule amount of chakra to attach her fingers tips and feet to the ceiling. As soon as she was comfortable three ninja made their way around the corner. Their tell all sound head bands told her all she needed to know.

"I'm just saying, we should interrogate them now. Leaf nin's are hard to come by," argued one of the ninja's.

The other one shook his head, "We have orders…though a little ruff housing never hurt anyone right?"

The third grinned while popping his knuckles, "The brat who bit me is going to have a one on one lesson with my right hook."

At the worst possible second, a small barely noticeable sound rang through the keep.

The sound ninja froze, Sakura froze, the damn air in the damn cave froze. A small vibration sound bounced off the walls, each ring lasting about a second each, even with the echo. Sakura looked down at the vibrating cell phone on her hip with a frown as the enemy ninja looked up at the ceiling.

"Cheap fucking salesman," she cursed as she dropped to the ground in the middle of the group of men.

She immediately took advantage of their surprise. In one swift kick she knocked out the original man as he landed on the ground. The big beefy man who had a knuckle cracking problem attacked her with his overgrown fists. She dodged and threw him over her shoulder where he landed with an 'umph' noise. The third tried pulling out a blade but she beat him to it and twisted his arm behind his back. Once he was in enough pain she spun him back around and into the nearest wall where his face hit the stoneware with a crack.

As soon as she was sure her targets were unconscious she reached down towards the phone on her belt loop while mumbling to herself, "Damn salesman," she grumbled. Then in a mocking tone she tried to imitate him while she turned her phone off, "Whatever, '_I promise the vibrate is so quiet a ninja could bring this on the field_'. What the frick ever, that is the last time I shop at a civilian shop no matter how cute the merchandise." Of course, the cheesy pickup line had nothing to do with why she bought the blasted thing…it was pink.

After the phone was effectively turned off and muted she looked back over at the unconscious men on the floor. Now what was she going to do with them? She couldn't leave them out like this, someone might see and alert everyone. They'd have guards everywhere and then she would have to fight her way _in_ and _out_. She quickly looked around for any hidden area's people might overlook. She quickly walked over to the nearest door and smiled when she opened it. It was a makeshift closet.

Sakura looked back over at the three men. It would be tight but…oh well, not her problem.

After dragging the men over and stuffing them into the doorway, and of course conveniently breaking the lock, she headed back on her way. After dodging a few more security members she eventually made it to the correct cell. There were a surprising number of cell blocks, only a few of which were filled. It did not matter though, she only had her targets in mind.

Sakura pulled out her favorite Christmas present ever, a set of lock picking tools. Trust Kakashi to get her something practical and work related. The man was a walking contradiction, he did not want her in danger but he gave her the tools to get into it. After a few seconds she easily managed to disarm the lock. Slowly she opened the door, pushing it open with her foot while checking for any traps that only the guards would know about. After sensing none she quickly stepped in.

On the wall were two jounin tied to the mold cover stone. The first still had some semblance of his clothes, though they were torn everywhere. His jounin jacket was in shreds and his right eye was bloodied. The second man was more concerning to Sakura. He was half unconscious and bruised all over. In all honesty Sakura could barely make out his face what with all the black and yellow patches everywhere.

In a moment's notice she was walking up to them while examining all their wounds with a medic's eye. It seemed the men she encountered where not the only one's wanting to pick a fight.

The first one who was less hurt looked up at her, "Konaha? You came? Please help my friend."

Sakura grimaced as her chakra surveyed the situation. She discretely looked over their chakra patterns as she searched for the familiar Konaha signature. One could never be too careful when dealing with enemy ninja, "Glad we agree."

"The chain's, they are chakra reinforced. Lock's cannot pick them," he tried when he saw her reaching for her pouch.

Sakura stopped mid grab, "Oh…okay." Not a second later her hand was resting on the seemingly old chain. With one chakra boosted pull the chain broke.

The jounin's eye's widened, "Did you just…"

She quickly did the other as the wounded man fell to her lap, "What did they use on him?"

Sakura let the medic in her take over as her hands began to glow the familiar green. She checked his organs, minimal damage, his lungs, minimal damage, his bones, medium damage, his brain, mediocre damage. All in all he seemed to have four broken bones and a large concussion. After sending a wave of chakra to help with the pain and block said pain receptors she turned towards the second man. She pulled his chains off the wall and did a once over on him. After assessing that he could manage without immediate treatment she turned back towards the injured man, "Can you carry him?"

He nodded.

Together the three of them set off down the hallway, but not before Sakura felt a familiar chakra pattern. Slowly, she let lose a smile. "One second, there is a friend I need to pick up."

The first jounin's mouth dropped, "But there are no other Leaf ninja here?"

Sakura walked over towards an opposing cell, "No, but an ally of Konaha is."

Knowing there would only be a few minutes before the sound ninja started to arrive, thanks to her new found friend, she kicked the door in. It quickly crashed into the wall with a thud, an imprint of her foot imbedded in the middle. She stepped into the cell and smiled when she saw the familiar face. He was chained to the floor as he sat on his lonesome little rock.

"Hello Kankurou," she snickered while walking over.

"What? C-Cat?" he stuttered.

"Honestly Kankurou? The Kazekage's brother getting captured by Sound ninja? Please tell me you haven't fallen that far," she laughed while breaking his chain's and pulling him to his feet. Before he could say anything she pulled him close into an almost embrace, "The guy with me is Sound. My guess is they killed the real guy and are trying to imitate in case someone came looking."

Kankurou's face hardened, "Want me to kill him?"

Sakura couldn't help but smile, "I was going to use him to carry the real Leaf ninja out, maybe take him back to Konaha for interrogation." She quickly looked behind her to check on her fellow ninja, "I have a mission to complete, get them out of here. Go down the hall and take a right. You will find a door. It will be a linen closet. Move all the towels and there will be a passage way that will take you outside. Make him drag the body and make him _go first_. There are sensors so they will know you are there so _do not_ be lazy about it. Once you're out knock him out and meet my by the second waterfall."

Kankurou nodded his head as he took in the situation.

Sakura quickly pulled something from her pocket and pressed the small bead like device into her friend's hand, "Take this."

He looked down, "A soldier pill?"

She nodded. With their talk done she turned back around to face the 'Leaf' ninja, "Alright, he's going to take you out, follow his orders like there were mine."

The man's mouth dropped, "But he's not Leaf?"

"No, but he is out ally, I trust him to take care of you. Besides, he doesn't listen and I tell his sister and she'd kick his ass faster than you can ask 'why are you crying'."

He again tried to argue, obviously his mission was to stay close to the intruder, "What are you going to do?"

Sakura smirked, "Finishing my mission." That was all she said as she turned around her black cape billowing behind her.

She knew Kankurou would do as she said, Temari really would kick his ass if he didn't and they both knew it. After a few more Sound ninja dodging, it was a new game she had invented, she finally made it to the center hub of the hideout. Not moments before she was about to touch the control panel the alarms started sounding. Sakura could only figure those were alerting the guards of her friend's exit. That gave her…about three minutes and thirty seconds to get done what she needed to do.

Sakura grabbed a blue and black wire from her pouch as she slipped under the generator's control panel. Chris-crossing wires, reconfiguring the computer set up and locking her settings she was able to once again stand on her feet. As soon as she was done she looked at her wrist watch. Almost mechanically she unlocked the computer and set it for self detonate, the new program she had just made. The program was tied to the makeshift bomb she had just made in order to increase the explosion further. Though, it wasn't really a bomb, more like a major malfunction crossed with massive over heating.

The blast should be big enough to take out the whole underground building, that left four minutes for her to get out.

"Bitch!" yelled someone from behind.

She turned as she pressed the last necessary key for detonation. A fist came flying at her but she instinctively dodged. Luckily the ninja's could really only use actual fighting, no special techniques, in fear of bringing down the whole cave. That was the one downside to cave dwelling hideouts. They were not good for the actual fight that could happen with an intruder. They collapsed much too easily.

Sakura blocked a right hook, a left upper and a jab. She tried not to roll her eye's. What was it with men and the incapability to use their feet? Were they just that uncoordinated? Sakura quickly took her own advice and tripped him with her right, kneed him in the gut and effectively sent him in the air with her left and did a roundhouse with her right. He landed in the middle of the control panel, smashing it effectively.

Well at least she knew no one could disarm it now, the machine was obviously broken if the sparks had anything to say about it. She looked at her wrist watch. Shoot, she had like a minute and fifteen seconds to get to an entrance that takes three minutes to reach.

Sakura sprinted as fast as she could towards the waterfall exit, knowing that she wouldn't have time to make it to one of the hidden ones without getting fried while climbing out. The tunnels would just take too long. So she bypassed the confused Sound ninja as a blur knowing that if she didn't hurry they wouldn't even be able to find the ashes. The alarms increased as they spoke of overheating in the generator room. The flashing red lights became louder and louder.

Frick! Ten seconds. She quickly made a turn and could hear the waterfall. The crashing noise of water made her hurry that much faster. Mentally she counted the seconds, four, another step, three, another step, two, and she jumped. She pushed as much chakra into her feet as she could.

One.

The blast sounded. She could feel the growing heat on her back as she flew through the waterfall. The blast itself pushed her even farther as she landed with a splash in the water. Sakura surfaced just in time to see the remnants of the blast. The cave had a tendril of fire continuously bellowing out of its mouth, effectively evaporating the water from the waterfall, and she could see other parts of the mountain falling in on itself.

Mission to save the jounin and explicitly tell Sound that there bases are not welcomed here in Leaf territory, a success.

* * *

Kakashi finally let Sasuke head back towards his house in order to heal. He should probably get some rest as well. Aimlessly Kakashi looked over at the rising sun as its ray's headed over the mountains, hitting the tops of the Leaf's village's trees.

He hated that Sakura was in Anbu. Contrary to popular belief he was more than knowledgeable about her activities. She had been in Anbu for quite some time and was captain for just as long.

Kakashi scoffed. He had first learned it about two years ago when he was perusing through the Anbu files. Like every other sector that aspect of Leaf was divided among gender as well, but one note caught his eye. Being who he was he was granted more than enough rights so when he needed a scout for a mission he went rifling through the piles of applicants. Sakura's name was oddly enough there. Her picture was there with one word circled in black.

Taken.

Using his reputation and name he immediately went through Tsunade's records to find that his little girl was indeed in Anbu. He had not been happy. It wasn't that she hadn't told him, no he knew it was against the rules for her to do so, but that he hadn't figured it out himself.

Sure he had some suspicions' but never anything to make him really consider it. The late hours, the frequent trips, the lack of talked about missions. He knew the signs, he used to live by them. It was just hard, watching her while knowing there was nothing he could do to help. He thought of arguing with Tsunade over it but knew it was pointless. Sakura was a ninja, this was her job.

Kakashi looked back over at the mountains.

Damned if he liked it though.

_

* * *

_

A little girl with bright pink hair attempted to make her way home. She had an armful of books in her hands and couldn't really see where she was going, but she didn't care. She had spent all day with the nice lady at the front desk and had even learned a few letters! She couldn't wait to learn more. Maybe by Christmas she could read to some of the other kids!

_Suddenly her books went flying. Her body had stumbled into something that was up to her waist and she just couldn't catch herself in time. Briefly she considered crying but decided against it. Every time she cried that stupid mean boy showed up. She was not going to do that again._

_Slowly she looked around to apologias with whoever she had bumped into. Though she was not a big fan of Miss Gruin the lady had taught her manners._

"_I'm sowy," she tried even though she did not see anyone in front of her._

"_It's alright kid, I wasn't looking where I was going. I got lost in the one scent-" the man stopped and she suddenly heard loud sniffing._

_Sakura was finally able to figure out that there wasn't anyone in front of her. She looked around repeatedly but didn't find anything. When she finally stood up she saw a dog sitting in front of her looking like it just had its favorite treat taken away._

_Sakura's eye's brightened. She loved dogs! Immediately forgetting about her books she lunged at the dog and tried to pull it into a hug, "Doggy! I'm sowy I wan into you! Aw you lost?"_

_The dog didn't answer, not that she expected it to. Even she knew dogs didn't talk…while humans were around anyways. She had a theory that they spoke all the time when there were no human's around. Again she hugged the dog in delight, "I'm naming you Pwincess!"_

_The dog's face blanched as he came back towards reality. He was immediately out of her arms and yelling at her, "You cannot name me Princess! I'm a boy!"_

_The girls mouth dropped. Before when Sakura heard a voice she figured she was hearing things, people always were telling her she was crazy after all. But the dog, it just…"I knew it!" She yelled while pointing at the dog. "Doggies can tawk!"_

"_Talk," said the pug, "you have to say the 'l'."_

_Sakura beamed, "Can all doggies tawk?"_

_Pakkun tried not to smile, this was a very serious situation after all. Who cared if she was undeniably cute. Honestly, talking dogs? Please, he was just exceptional. "What is your name?"_

_Sakura was about to speak when one of the Leaf villages' clock tower bells rang. Her face went blank. She quickly spun to face the clock properly only for Pakkun to feel a wave of panic roll off her. "Sorry mister doggie, I have to go!"_

_She quickly picked up her armful of books and headed around the corner. Pakkun, realizing he was losing her, tried to follow. As soon as he made his turn he lost her. There were throngs of people everywhere. Families, couples, children…the list went on. Damn, it had taken him all day to track her and now he lost her!_

_Sakura on the other hand was still running. Miss Gruin was going to be so mad if she found out that she had left. Sakura, as quickly as her tiny little legs could carry her, ran through the gate, past the yard and into the front door. She immediately stopped in her steps when she saw Miss Gruin standing there with a stern look on her face._

"_Why hello Sakura," stated the woman._

_Sakura cringed but knew she had to speak up, "Helwo Miss Gruin," she said softly._

"_Where have you been?" asked Miss Gruin shortly._

"_Lib-" tried Sakura but she was cut off._

"_Room! Now! I swear Sakura, I would have had the entire ninja force looking for you if that nice Uchiha boy wouldn't have stopped by to tell me how disobedient you were. Going out on your own? Do you know how bad that makes me look?" yelled the woman._

_Sakura wasn't sure what to feel at that moment. The mean boy? He had told? Sakura wanted to throw her books and stomp on them. He was so, so…mean!_

"_No food for tonight or tomorrow Sakura!" yelled Miss Gruin as she stomped over to her office._

_Sakura held her books tighter and slowly walked up the stairs. She hadn't eaten anything all day and now she was in a lot of trouble. After making it to her bed she tried not to think of her empty stomach._

"_Sakura?" came a voice from above her._

_Sakura looked up to see a girl with brown pig tails looking at her upside down from the top bunk. She was really nice, and was a year older than Sakura. She had even done Sakura's hair this morning. The girl sometimes stayed here when her Uncle got to mean. The girl jumped down from the bed and handed her a folded up napkin. After unwrapping Sakura beamed with joy as an uneaten spring roll sat in her palm._

"_Thanks Tenten."_


	3. Mikoto Makes A Stance

_Sakura aimlessly swung her feet back and forth as she sat on the bench. There was only a slight breeze out and the cold rain from last night had left the streets damp. Luckily Sakura still had her trusty coat on. She was waiting for the library to open. She had finished all the books she had checked out from the previous week. Well, she hadn't actually finished them herself, the older kids had to help her a lot but that was okay, she'd be able to do it on her own someday. It was just going to take a lot of work._

_Sakura swung her legs forward in an arch as she tried to lay down on the bench. Miss Gruin was asleep and would be for a few more hours, luckily for her Sakura had long ago learned the mean woman's schedule. She just needed to get everything she needed and head back before anyone tattled on her. Stupid tattle tails._

_The little girl aimlessly looked up at the sky and started to giggle as she looked at all the funny clouds and their shapes. That one by the tree looked like a bunny! Her eyes widened, it was like __**her**__ bunny! The one her mommy had gave her…well, sort of. Miss Gruin said her mommy died before she was born and that Sakura should be luckily there were medics around to take her out of her mommy's stomach._

_Was that where babies came from? Maybe she could find a book on it. That was what she would do. Books did have the answers for everything it seemed. But would the older kids read it to her? Everyone got really red when Risa asked three weeks ago about babies._

"_If it isn't the little angel that makes my day," laughed an almost familiar voice._

_Sakura quickly sat up, she didn't want to look impolite, and pulled her dress down to make sure it wasn't bunching up. She finally looked up bashfully, someone had called her an angel after all, but paused._

_Her eyes went wide and her mouth opened in an 'o', "The mean boy's fwiend!"_

_His face momentarily fell but he caught himself, "Please don't worry, I'm not going to be mean."_

_Sakura shook her head as she tried to grab the stack of books that went well above her head. She still needed to return them, at least that was what the libian, she wasn't sure if she said that right, said. "Wiar!" she tried to yell while thinking liar._

_He tried to step in front of her as she jumped off the bench. "Please, I'm not my cousin…what was your name again?"_

_Sakura stopped when he didn't say anything mean to her, "Sakuwa."_

"_Right, the pink should have told me. Can I sit with you?" he asked gently._

_Sakura thought for a moment before she nodded her head, her hair bobbing yes around her in their curls. She moved back over to the bench and jumped back on it, though she made sure to be a safe distance away from the mean boy's friend just in case._

"_See that wasn't so hard, right?" he asked._

"_Where's the mean boy?" she immediately cut to the chase. She did not want to be around here when he showed up. _

"_Oh, he's getting something to eat around the corner…" he tried but he immediately saw her attempting to jump back off of the bench when she learned that he was close, "but he should be a few minutes."_

_Sakura cautiously decided to stay where she was._

"_You know, he's not normally so mean," tried Suichi._

_Sakura pulled her knees up to her chest, not caring how Miss Gruin would yell at her. She blatantly gave him a look that said she didn't believe him. _

"_New topic? You're right, that would probably be best. So what were you doing here?" he tried again._

_Sakura looked down at her books, "I wanna wead like the gwown ups."_

_Suichi looked down at her book collection, "Well it looks like you're on your way. What were you doing laying down? Not enough beds at the orphanage," he asked jokingly._

"_No, I habs a bed, but some of the othew kids don't. They sleep on the floow with lots and lots of bwankets so I am really lucky. I was watching the stowy that the clouds tewlled me, but you don't get to do that when inside," she laughed like nothing in the world was wrong._

_Suichi wasn't sure what to say to that. The Uchiha clan had always made sure he never wanted for anything, especially with him being Itachi Uchiha's best friend. "Oh…um, what did they tell you?"_

_Sakura's famous smile that could melt the heart of any missing nin was suddenly on her face. "The bunny wabbit was wunning from the tigewr!" She expertly pointed towards the two distinct clouds._

_Suichi could see where she got the story from. One cloud really did look like a rabbit, and the one behind it really did look like a tiger ready to pounce. While he was relishing in her imagination the wind around them suddenly began to pick up and he observed as the little girl's eyes widened. He watched as the cloud, the tiger, began to move swiftly towards the bunny._

"_No mista bunny! He's gonna eat you!" she tried yelling._

_The wind picked up even faster as the tiger seemed to pounce on the rabbit, engulfing the smaller cloud._

"_Oh look, no more mister bunny," said a voice sarcastically._

_Sakura spun around to see none other than Itachi Uchiha standing to the side, food in hand, while smirking. Sakura's anger grew, "You made the tigewr eat the bunny!"_

_Itachi snickered, "The rabbit was stupid to just be standing there when there was a predator around."_

_Sakura quickly marched up to him, stomping her feet as loudly as she could without hurting herself. Once she came up to him she realized exactly how tall he was. She barely even came up to his belly! Sakura, realizing she didn't like how he could look down on her just like Miss Gruin scanned the area quickly. Fortunately the bench was right next to her. She quickly jumped up on the bench while standing her ground. Now she was eye level with him, "Make the tigewr say sowy!"_

"_Make yourself be less annoying," he countered._

_Sakura continued to glare into his black eyes, her own green ones never blinking. "Stop being so mean!"_

_He rolled his eyes but continued to glare at her as well, "Stop being so annoying."_

"_Stop calling me annoying!" she wasn't sure if she said it right, and she really didn't know what it meant but she knew he said it to be mean so she knew it was something bad._

"_Sakura?" asked a kind and elderly voice._

_Sakura turned to see the liabian standing at the door with her key in her hand as she watched their interaction. "Sakura! Are you yelling at Master Uchiha?" The woman immediately rushed over as she grabbed Sakura's hand. "I am sorry Master Uchiha, she's just a child and doesn't know what she is doing."_

_Sakura pouted as she was pulled off the bench. The woman looked over at her, "Grab your books dear."_

_Sakura tried to do so but Suichi already had them in hand while holding them out to her. When the woman wasn't looking Sakura quickly stuck out her tongue at Itachi while scrunching up her noise defiantly._

_Itachi's own eyes narrowed as the librarian continued to apologias, "Brat," he mouthed when the librarian had grabbed the rest of the books. He turned back towards the librarian, "She should be punished."_

_Suichi tried to cut in, "Itachi, she's just a-"_

"_She should clean the floors," he ordered, "or I'm sure my father can come up with something."_

_The librarian froze. Was he serious? Sakura was a little girl! "I…I can have her help reorganize the books with me."_

"_That is sufficient," he said abruptly. He turned to walk away when he heard the librarian take Sakura's handful of books and say, 'let us go inside dear'._

_As soon as the door shut he felt more than heard something sticky hit his back, right in-between his shoulder blades. He reached behind him to feel the substance that had splattered on him. After pulling his fingers forward he saw that the cold rain from last night had turned the dry and dead ground into mud. Specifically, mud that was splattered all over his back from a certain little pink haired vixen of a brat. He looked up just in time to see said nuisance's pink hair flowing quickly behind the large wood door as it shut once again._

_He didn't even realize his Sharingan was turned on, nor did he care, he was to mad to give it a thought, "The brat did not just throw mud at me."_

_Suichi glared, "And you did not just use a wind jutsu to make a cloud tiger eat a cloud rabbit."_

_The boy, who was not even in his double digits, scowled, "She's dead."_

* * *

Kakashi again glanced out his window. It had been three days, Sakura was scheduled to have been back by now. Had something gone wrong? Was she hurt? She might be. Even with her medical knowledge there was only so much she could do, especially if she was low on chakra.

He glanced at the Hokage tower, but changed his mind. The Hokage wouldn't know much about the mission. He was getting old and had delegated most of his Hokage tasks to Tsunade and Jiraiya. Tsunade should be who he should be talking to, she would know everything about the mission, especially considering it was Sakura's.

No, he was going to look like an idiot if he did that. Or at the very least some overprotective father with the inability to let go.

A walk, yes, a walk was what he needed.

Kakashi looked over at Pakkun through his one good eye, "I'm going out."

Pakkun, with the rest of the summoned dogs who had been forced to run five miles in ten minutes, just panted, "Don't hurry on our account."

Kakashi had already shut the door when Pakkun rolled off the bed and onto the floor muttering, "I'm too old for this."

Kakashi eventually made it down to the market where he was scanning over the local grocery store. Maybe he should buy some food for Sakura, Naruto had probably cleaned her out while she was gone. He swore she was the only person he ever spent his money on.

"Kakashi?" asked a familiar voice, one that he had heard not two days ago.

He turned hesitantly while deciding how to handle the situation. She was undoubtedly wanting to talk about something irrelevant. It was a trait of the female species he had become very good at ignoring over the years but some people always slipped though. That and you could not really pull out an Icha Icha book in front of the Uchiha matriarch. "Hello Mikoto."

Mikoto Uchiha stepped closer to him and pulled him into a hug, "I really need to get out of the district more often if I can see you out and about."

Kakashi feigned a laugh, not really caring about the conversation but knew he had to be polite, "You are out, aren't you? That is somewhat of a surprise."

"It has been some time. We've been so absorbed in Uchiha affairs for the last ten or so years that I haven't a clue what has been going on in the village," she laughed while trying to pull him over to a bench. No one had to mention said 'affairs'. The Hokage had discovered an Uchiha uprising in the making and had been doing everything to dissuade the possible civil war for some time now. Luckily about three years ago all conflicts had been resolved and the Uchiha's were given the extra leeway in the council they had been vying for in the first place.

"So please tell all that has happened while I wasn't here. I want to know everything," she smiled while saying this but Kakashi had no idea how she did it. Was the woman mad? She wanted to gossip? With _him_?

"Forget Konoha, you have been busy," he tried.

"Oh but I don't even know who the lead ninja's are, aside from my own son of course. I haven't the slightest idea who to talk to in a medical crisis and all I do know are the politics of the village, which by the way are extremely dull," she tried as she brought the subject back to the forefront of the conversation.

"…We got a new tower."

"…You are as ignorant as ever I see."

Kakashi shook his head, "How is Sasuke doing?"

Mikoto rolled her eyes, "Barely walking thanks to you. Gave his brother quite a laugh and yet another thing to fight about. Well, I shouldn't say fight. More like their one sided sibling rivalry had even more firewood added to it."

"Sasuke always did look up to his brother," frowned Kakashi. Luckily Mikoto couldn't see his expression due to the mask covering Kakashi's face.

"Oh, but Itachi is finally home for a while. He is always on so many missions it worries me…though having him home is just as bothersome," she finished heavily.

"His reputation?" laughed Kakashi.

"…I see you have heard of that. I swear, it is no problem getting that boy a woman, it is getting him to commit to one," she swore.

"He will settle down when he has to, or when he finds someone that makes him want to," tried Kakashi when he saw her depressed face.

"Like you did? You are still single and you had just as much as a reputation when you were his age…it's just. I am worried that he is going to end up with some wedlock child that Fugaku won't even look at let alone approve of. I wouldn't really mind since I would finally be a grandmother but…no child should grow up with that stigma," again the frown was on her face.

Kakashi had nothing to say to that. He wanted to say that Itachi would never be that irresponsible, that he would be careful, but he knew that didn't really matter. He spoke from experience.

"Nothing to say to that Kakashi? I could really use your reassurance right now," she spoke.

"I wish I could give it, but I was never a liar," no, he never had been and she knew it, "but if it does happen, perhaps it will give him the peace of mind he is craving."

Mikoto turned towards him, "Mind explaining?"

Kakashi actually let loose a smile, one which he hadn't meant to, "Sakura is mine. I might have gotten a kunoichi knocked up back in the olden days. I didn't know about her until after she was born, and even then I didn't believe my own ears. When she finally did become part of my life…I found myself seeing the world from a very different perspective."

Mikoto's eyes widened, "You have a daughter! A real one? So the other night was-"

"Overprotective father mode, one that I seem to slip into more and more recently. You must really be out of the loop if you don't know that one. I thought everyone did," he said while shrugging his shoulders while trying to relax them. "I'm actually in that mode right now. Sakura is on a mission, though she told everyone she left for a seminar."

"Hence the nearly killing my son," she laughed.

"A good fight always did relax me, besides, he could use a good beating every once in a while." Kakashi couldn't help the chuckle that slipped out. It was true after all, Sasuke was one of the most cocky ninja in the village.

"Mother," came a strong yet soothing voice.

Mikoto turned around to meet her son's form, Kakashi had no need to since he had seen the boy walk up. Though he was hardly a boy. If memory served he was five years older than Sakura. That made him twenty-five.

"Hello Itachi," said Kakashi in his normal 'I don't really care what's going on' voice.

"Hatake, I see you have kept my mother company. Did she demand the local gossip from you as well?"

Kakashi smirked, "She didn't get that much out of me. If she really wanted local gossip she should go to the Yamanaka flower shop and ask for Ino."

"Kakashi, come to tonight's dinner!" smiled Mikoto as she looked at her long time friend.

"Mikoto, I don't do-" he was cut off.

"Public anything. Oh I remember that much, but it will get your mind off of your daughter and how she is a day late in returning from her…seminar. You never know who she could run into on the roads. She is by herself after all," goaded Mikoto.

"Did you just mock me? No, that was more of a purposeful reminder of how worried I am. That is cold Mikoto," glared Kakashi as non-threatening as he could manage while still trying to convey not to do that again.

"All of the major clans are going to be there, along with many of their planned successors. It starts around three. I am sure we can more than distract you. Besides, we have not had a representative from the Hatake clan since your father's passing."

Again Kakashi was in a bind. He did not want to go, on any level, but it was Mikoto asking. He had known her since his genin days, her being Obito's younger sister. While she wasn't even close to being her brother she did have some of the same playful qualities he had always admired in Obito, even if he could not admit it at the time. It would be refreshing to be around it again. Kakashi glanced at Itachi. He had often wondered why Mikoto's playfulness had not transferred over to Itachi, or perhaps it did he just hadn't figured out the manner in which it presented itself.

"We would be honored by your presence Hatake," cut in Itachi.

Kakashi closed his eyes in thought. The boy had actually just asked him for something? In all the years that Itachi had strived to be like him, watched him from the sidelines, Kakashi had never heard him ask for anything from him. "Very well, but only for a short time."

Mikoto smiled, "Remember, three. Do not be late or I may have to tell the story of the time Obito nearly drowned you in the lake."

She grabbed Itachi's arm and pulled him to the street while waving politely at her friend. She did have her husband's reputation to keep in mind after all so overly public displays of affection towards long time friends was probably best to avoid, no matter how much she wanted to hug him again. As Kakashi watched them leave he glanced at the giant clock on top of the Hokage tower. He had effectively killed off an hour since he had left his apartment but now he needed another distraction.

Perhaps that exuberant boy Kiba Inuzuka was around. He always seemed full of energy.

* * *

Sasuke aimlessly fixed his collar that was much too tight for his liking. Why again was he here? He was having a hard enough time standing let alone interacting in a half decent conversation. And wasn't this just supposed to be clan heads and their possible successors? Unless his father was planning on surpassing Itachi and giving the title to him, which Sasuke doubted to the utmost, there really was no need to be here.

"Stop fidgeting brother," came Itachi as he stepped into the room.

"Shut up, I can fidget if I want. This damn thing sucks," he argued while watching his throat turn red from the tightness of the collar.

"Language little brother, if mother were to get word of your vocabulary…" mocked Itachi.

Sasuke turned furiously towards his hated but idolized big brother, "Why doesn't anyone believe me when I say you are an ass? It's so obvious to me it's ridiculous."

Itachi rolled his eyes, "Mother is trying to pawn off the most available woman to me and if that doesn't work, you are her next target. I suggest you be on guard."

Sasuke tried not to gag. He knew most of the clan head women and that was not going to happen.

"Hatake was invited as well."

Sasuke paled. What? Was he going to kick his ass in front of everyone here as well? At least before it had been private where no one could laugh. Sasuke Uchiha had a reputation to keep after all. He was the calm and collected one that was never caught off guard next to the freakishly loud one with platinum hair.

"Oh good, both of you are together. The guests have arrived and your father is greeting them. Do join him would you?" said his mother happily as she walked into the changing room that both of her boys were quarreling in.

Sasuke, knowing there was no point in resistance, he was sure his brother could turn the situation to being his fault, turned towards the door while mumbling. The last thing he wanted to do was put up with Ino's high pitched voice but even she was better than a one on one with Itachi.

Itachi turned as well, his mother right behind him.

* * *

Mikoto tried not to show how anxious she really was. Its wasn't the fact that they had every major clan in Konoha present, and it wasn't that they hadn't hosted such a large party in quite some time, at least with non-Uchiha related individuals anyways. It was that Kakashi would be here…was supposed to be here.

He was over an hour late and she was wondering if he was going to show at all.

"Mikoto, you seem anxious," whispered Kakashi in her right ear.

Mikoto immediately turned around and embraced him in a polite hug, "I am glad you are here. I can only complement outfits so much."

Kakashi smiled, "You always were the perfect host."

Mikoto smiled as well, "You are far from the perfect guest. You are an hour and a half late."

Kakashi shook his head lazily, "If you knew me you would realize that I am actually rather early."

Mikoto took in his appearance and fought the urge to straighten his jacket and tell him to comb over his hair. He looked surprisingly nice considering he must have been forced to come up with his outfit on his own. It seemed his mothers lectures had somehow made it into his brain. Of course, Mikoto didn't know that Sakura had labeled his clothes before she left. She had left out a total of seven outfits, one for each occasion that might present itself. This went from everyday wear when not training, because training clothes were really the only thing he was good at putting together, to high society function outfits. It was something she did almost every time she went on a mission, though Kakashi had to admit that this was the first time he had ever used this particular labeled outfit.

The only thing Mikoto could really find wrong with the outfit was his mask, "Did you really have to wear that thing?"

His eye's crinkled in a smile, knowing his answer would annoy her to no end, "Yes."

After a verbal lecture from Mikoto, which he didn't listen to at all, he glanced up to see Sasuke speaking to one of the council men who was present, "Hello Sasuke."

The young man froze, and Kakashi swore that if the man's hair didn't already stick straight up it would be, like a cat who was terrified of a dog ready to chew its arm off. Sasuke slowly glanced around until he met his gaze with Kakashi's, "You're early."

Kakashi just smiled as he took a glass of wine from a passing waiter. Mikoto, who continued to stay by his side, quickly followed. "You will have to take your mask off if you want to drink that."

"No I won't. I should warn you though, I cannot stay long," he said quickly while brushing through a swarm of people standing around and talking in a circle. From what he could tell it was all about politics, his least favorite subject.

"And why would that be? Do you have somewhere to be?" asked Mikoto while politely bowing to a fellow clan head.

"No, I just don't want to be here," he said quickly while making his way through another throng of people.

Mikoto was quickly on his heels, "What do you mean you don't want to be at my party? Everyone who has any type of say in the Leaf village is here."

"Exactly," he muttered.

"Hatake," spoke a solemn voice.

"And it starts," he muttered yet again. He turned to see one of the three lead council men standing before him. This one was not the same one Sasuke had been talking to earlier. This one had no pot belly and he actually had an air of confidence surrounding him.

"It has been a while since we have seen you at one of these gatherings," said the man formally as he took a sip of his red wine.

Kakashi looked up for some sort of distraction. Once he saw one he immediately brought his attention back towards the council member, "I haven't felt the need, most seem rather…political, but I know Mikoto would never let that happen in her house. Now if you would excuse me, I must speak with Sasuke."

Before any formal good bye could be said Kakashi had already left the scene, leaving Mikoto to cover his abrupt exit. He was positive she could do it easily, she had after all been covering up her husband's very un-political comments for years.

Kakashi slowly headed over towards Sasuke who happened to have migrated towards his older brother. Itachi and the black haired beauty that was gracing his arm, seemed to be having a difference of opinion on what there 'arm holding' should be classified as.

"I knew you cared for me Itachi, this just proves it," smiled the girl as she dreamily looked up at the man who honestly wanted nothing to do with her. "Our mothers have been trying to set us up for some time now, thankfully our schedules finally matched."

Kakashi had remembered his own parents meddling with marriage when he was younger and decided that Itachi should have some sort of salvation at the end of the tunnel. As he was in the middle of walking up he contemplated how he was going to get rid of the woman, "Hello young lady, what is your name?"

The Uchiha looked towards him and her eye's lit up as she realized she was talking to _the_ Kakashi Hatake. Undoubtedly she had never before been surrounded by so many powerful ninja, "My name is Shi Uchiha, Lord Hatake."

Kakashi did not correct her on the title, it was after all his own. It was just one he never used, "Shi, what do you do to keep your schedule so busy from Lord Itachi's?"

Shi blushed, "Oh, I help my mother clean the house. It is a rather large one so it requires a lot of work. Not to mention all my lessons to be a proper wife."

Kakashi tried to smile, he really did. The idea of Itachi with such a boring woman was rather insane. He had no idea what his old friend could possibly be thinking. "My daughter hates cleaning, maybe you could give her a few tips. She nearly tears our head off anytime we make a mess."

Shi again blushed, "Oh, it just takes patience."

Kakashi completely missed Sasuke's face and hand motions as he continued to talk about Sakura. If he would have been paying attention and not thinking of his daughter, he might have seen his student as he shook his head 'no' furiously.

"Well, she really doesn't like it. It probably has to do with how many times a day she has to scrub up at the hospital."

"You know someone who works in the hospital?" asked Shi brightly.

"That's right," came a voice from behind him and Kakashi mental cringed in response, "she is a doctor there."

Kakashi closed his eyes and counted to three while trying to gain his composure, but he knew it wouldn't help. It was just one of the many people he did not want to come face to face with today.

Suddenly the Inuzuka matriarch stepped forward and into the small little circle, "Hello Hatake, this is a surprise. When rumor spread that you had accepted your invitation I did not think it was true."

Kiba was suddenly by her side as she snapped her fingers. The man had grown over the years and he now held a tall but muscular rugged look. He was no longer the 12-year-old boy with baby fat. He was a full grown ninja, though not one that was up to Kakashi's standards. Their fight had taught him that much. Kakashi could still see the limp in the young boy's right leg from when he was thrown into a tree.

Kiba bowed, "Hatake."

Kakashi looked over at Tsume Inuzuka, her short brown hair up in a bun. That did nothing to set Kakashi at ease from the woman's attempt at being a lady, if anything it made him tense up even more. This woman was a natural born predator, "Yet I see you brought your son instead of your daughter."

"Hana had something come up last minute," she said quickly.

"Kakashi, that was no way to-" Mikoto stopped as she took in the situation. "Tsume, I didn't know you knew Kakashi."

Kakashi turned towards Sasuke, "I am going to need something stronger than this," he said while handing the empty wine glass to him.

Briefly, Sasuke wondered how Kakashi had drank the drink without anyone noticing.

"Lord Hatake, this is a surprise," spoke another voice, this one being deeper. Kakashi was quickly looking around for Sasuke who had left in order to find him something stronger.

"Lord Hyuuga, I see Hinata nor Hinabi are with you tonight," Kakashi watched as Neji stepped forwards.

Kakashi couldn't help but feel that he had been set up. Hiashi never came to the Uchiha functions and at the very best he came rarely with no escort from either of his daughters. How did word of his coming get around so quickly?

"Hinata was busy and Hinabi had a mild cold. Neji volunteered," spoke Hiashi as he pushed Neji further into the circle. "Though he could easily be who I chose as clan leader. He is very powerful, already in Anbu. The Elders declared him a protégée, much like you."

"I am well aware of that," he spoke. Finally Sasuke was back with a servant who was caring a whole bottle of sake in his arms. When he reached the circle Sasuke glanced at the newcomers.

"Hyuuga."

"Uchiha."

Both spoke volumes of rivalry.

"And why weren't we invited to the party?" spoke another voice.

Kakashi didn't bother turning around as two more groups made their way over. It seemed he truly had been set up. They were not only all here, where he was standing, but they had all ambushed him as well. This was just wonderful. Kakashi motioned for the waiter to pour him a glass of sake.

The Nara clan matriarch and the Aburame patriarch were soon standing before him with each of their own heirs present.

Sasuke looked at his fellow ninja, "Shikamaru, Shino."

Both bowed the traditional bow of respect before they joined.

Mikoto looked questioningly at her guests, "Is there anything I can get you?"

There was a 'no thank you' politely given from each of the clan heads. Mikoto watched as they continued to stare at her long time friend. She had to be missing something.

Said friend was currently drinking his sake through his mask and looking at the only person in the group who he felt didn't want anything from him, "So Shi, what else do you do with your time?"

"Hatake, may I have a word with you?" asked Hiashi.

Tsume's gaze automatically went from Kakashi towards Hiashi, "Buzz off you giant tool."

Hiashi turned on Tsume, "Is seems your clan has yet to develop manners. What has it been, two, maybe three hundred years and still your kind lack the proper etiquette for a decent conversation."

"Don't even start Hyuuga, at least my son is actually a legitimate heir towards our clan name," she barked at the head of the Hyuuga clan.

Kakashi looked at the waiter, "More sake, and much stronger."

"Neji has all the proper qualifications for a clan leader and has more potential than the other two. He is my first choice, and as clan head I make that decision. It shows his true talent if he, who was not even in the running, is upsetting the ancient tradition of only the first born of the main branch having the ability to take on the title of clan head," he argued.

Mikoto tried to interrupt, "Please, there must be an explanation for all of this bickering."

No one paid any heed.

Yoshino Nara, Shikamaru's mother stepped forwards, "Kakashi, Mikoto is right, look at those two squabble. Could you imagine being part of the family? It must be like that all the time. Now mine is rather different. Shikamaru, being as smart as he is, is part of the Anbu tactical team. Now there is a mind you can relate to."

Shibi Aburame cut in on behalf of his son Shino, "Smart Shikamaru may be, lazy is an even larger attribute. You should take a look at my boy Shino. He is quiet, not one of those loud types, and will easily be able to keep an eye out for any unfortunate circumstances."

Sasuke looked at Kakashi, "This is why you shouldn't do public places."

"Your mother is convincing when she wants to be. Though I was hoping to avoid all this," tried Kakashi.

Hiashi stepped forward, "This is preposterous. It is obvious who the best clan here is, that is the Hyuuga. We have been around for generations and hold one of the most honored clan titles not just in Leaf, but through many of the villages."

Itachi looked at his younger brother, angry that the situation had not made itself known. Itachi did not like not knowing what was going on around him. It made him feel uncomfortable and vulnerable, even in a non shinobi situation.

The opposing clan's continued to argue and Itachi felt himself trying to follow each of their conversations, trying to pick up on anything that might tell him what everyone was arguing about. From what he could tell, they were each trying to impress Hatake even if that meant debasing the other clans right to their faces. That was not politically smart to do but it seemed they just didn't care. Itachi looked towards Hatake. It seemed Hatake was the clue towards everything. They were fighting over something he had in his possession and were determined to prove their worthiness.

Was it a technique? A new jutsu? No, Hatake would have shown it to at least one of his past students by now. It never would have reached the other clans before one of his own had learned it.

Itachi watched as Hatake finally began to become annoyed with the situation. It seemed he was finally going to get some answers.

The current topic of conversation took a dramatic breath of air, which everyone automatically stopped talking around him to catch what he might say, and released it with an irritated sigh. "You are not marrying my daughter," spoke Kakashi. Even though it wasn't said at any sort of loud volume everyone in the vicinity heard it.

"Why not!" screamed Tsume and Yoshino at the same time.

Kakashi turned towards the Aburame, Nara, Hyuuga and Inuzuka clan heads, "Last time I say this, I swear. My _daughter_ is _not_ for _sale_. If you want her hand in marriage then you follow _my_ rules. And before you ask what those are I have already gone into them with great detail with _all_ of the young men standing before me. I am sure they would be more than willing to explain."

"But Kiba is perfect. Think of all the grandchildren he will give you! Inuzuka's are huge on having active and healthy sexual lives you know," yelled Tsume.

Itachi was stunned, and it seemed his mother was as well. They were fighting over a potential bride? The very thing he had been trying to get away from was what all of this inane bickering was about?

Kakashi turned towards Tsume, "Never talk about my daughter's potential sex life with me Tsume or I may move her to a desolate island with nothing but sand and water in sight."

"Hatake, your daughter is one of the most powerful medics to ever reach Leaf, and she is a top ranking ninja as well. She deserves something more than what these clans can offer her. She deserves the title of the Hyuuga. Think of all Neji can give her as clan head, not to mention their children. What with his Byakugan and her chakra control, they will be as strong as any of the best ninja bred from this village," argued Hiashi while trying to block the view of Tsume with his form.

"Move it you stiff. Your clan is nothing but a bunch of aristocrats who follow old meaningless rules they view as words from god himself. Sakura needs a clan with flexibility, to let her grow. Not to mention one that will take care of her, not stifle and suffocate," said Tsume as she pushed him back and out of her way, effectively elbowing Hiashi in the ribs.

"Exactly, Sakura deserves people who will help her, create a loving home and has background in medical jutsu!" argued Yoshino. "Kakashi, we have been providing medical information for years to Leaf, think of all the information she would have in her environment. We would love her like our own and you would be more than welcome in our house at any point and time."

Shibi cut in, "We'd build you your own room. You could live on Aburame property, right next to her."

Kakashi took a step back as he quickly decided his friendship with Mikoto could take the sudden and abrupt leave. "My condition's stand. You want my daughters hand in marriage, you are first going to have to gain the approval of the people in her life. Until then, don't even ask."

There was a puff of smoke and he was gone.

Tsume turned towards Kiba, "What the hell are you doing standing around here? Go do whatever it is you have to do!"

Kiba scratched his head, "Tried that, didn't work."

Shikamaru nodded, "Got my ass kicked in the process."

Shino looked up at the ceiling through his sun glasses, "Was not fun."

Tsume growled at her son, "You told me you wanted to marry her right? Well go figure out how!"

Yoshino looked at Shikamaru, "I believe you said much the same thing. You're a genius, so strategize to the point of insanity! I want that girl in our family!"

"Shino, the Kazekage of Sand, Gaara has made a request for Sakura's hand as well. Do you really just plan on sitting around? She will slip through your fingers like she was never there," Shibi argued.

"Enough of this," sighed Hiashi, "Sakura deserves the best. She has been close with my family for years. Her best friend is my own daughter. She knows our compound better than many of the guards. Her place is on Hyuuga estates. Neji, you will come with me and explain these conditions. We will find a way to appease them. You have expressed interest in this girl for too long to let her bypass us for one of _them_."

Hiashi looked towards the other clans as he began to leave, "She will have the name Hyuuga as her own or I am not the Hyuuga clan leader."

He left with a swish of his robes and Neji was right behind him.

Tsume growled under her throat as she turned towards the others, "Fine, I'll admit it. He has more to his name than any of us but Sakura has never cared about names before. He's an ass and she knows it." Tsume turned towards Kiba, "You are going to show her the fun side of life Kiba, while he can show her all the proper sitting positions when having dinner with the family."

Almost instantly the three remaining clans had dispersed as they continued their scheming.

Mikoto turned towards Sasuke who was looking at the sake bottle longingly, "Sasuke, how old is this Sakura?"

Absentmindedly he switched his gaze, "Twenty, but don't even think about it mom. Sakura absolutely loathes anything to do with the Uchiha clan. When we were first put on a team together she almost left the squad after she met me. Haven't you ever wondered why I have never brought her over?"

Mikoto couldn't believe her ears, "What? She doesn't like us? But she doesn't even know us!"

Sasuke sighed, "I don't know why she doesn't, it is just something that is never brought up. She won't even set foot on Uchiha ground, something about a personal terrorist, I don't know. She just doesn't _do_ our clan. It's black listed to her."

"Well, I'm sure any misconceptions that have been set can be remedied. Itachi will be sure to break any ideas she has been fed," tried to reason out Mikoto.

Sasuke shook his head, "Let it drop mom. Sakura would never put up with someone as bastardly as Itachi and I would never put up with him dating her." His glare went hard, "I don't have to fight him in order to sabotage any relationship he could miraculously make out of it."

There were certain things he knew his family would always have a say over. His job, his income, his home, his wife, but Sakura was not and would never be something he would let them taint. No, she was off limits. "And don't even try Kakashi. He'll turn on you the moment you bring it up to him. He is more territorial over her than anyone I know. I don't care how long you've been friends."

"Sasuke-" she tried to reason.

"Itachi can have anyone else in the village, I don't care who. But if he steps even an inch near _her_…I swear. I don't care how good he is or how much better he is than me…" his eyes suddenly went cold. His body became ridged and Mikoto felt for the first time a slight shiver run up her body from her son's aura, "…I'll fucking cut _it_ off."

He left it at that. There was no need to explain what he said, everyone knew that Sasuke was referring to a certain piece of male anatomy belonging to his brother. With one fowl swoop he turned around and headed out of the dining area. He was done with entertaining guests. He was done putting up with people. He was getting out of here and out of this stupid outfit if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

Sakura smiled as she saw the entrance way that lead towards her village. Kankurou had decided to come with her, seeing as she had one unconscious Leaf ninja and one struggling Sound ninja to watch. Besides, he knew of his brother's infatuation with the girl and wanted to make a good impression on his future sister in-law.

Slowly Kankurou's eyes grazed over her body. If he was into the whole settling down thing he most defiantly would have chosen her, but then again he'd have to go through Kakashi and all the others. No, he wouldn't lie to himself, he wasn't that brave.

The two of them quickly made their way to the gate where Sakura got them in no problem. Apparently she had been at a seminar and came across him and the others in a fight on her return.

Once they were out of earshot he smirked, "You liar."

She hoisted the Sound ninja harder as he struggled behind her, "Only a little."

Kankurou smiled. Defiantly the girl he would want. She suddenly made a sharp turn…away from what he remembered as the Hokage tower. He huffed a little bit as he made sure the ninja on his back didn't fall off. "Aren't we supposed to report-"

Sakura frowned, "Things are different in Konoha now. When the new laws about female ninja were passed…other things changed as well."

"So now you don't even report?" he asked. They silently passed a few households as he followed her lead.

"The Third wanted to name Tsunade Hokage but couldn't because of the new laws. Jiraiya turned the position down. It has become an unspoken rule that the female ninja report to Tsunade and the male ninja report to the Toad Sage," she explained.

"So the rumors are true then…about the Konoha division," he asked somewhat unbelievingly.

"They are true…to an extent. Things are just different now than they used to be. The male ninja and the female ninja just do things very differently. No one could agree on a compromise so now…we do things separately," she reasoned. Sakura again tugged on the chakra infused wire holding the Sound ninja captive. Thankfully she had suppressed his hearing and his vocal cords with her chakra medical skills so she had no worries of him telling anyone what he heard.

"So, we're going to a different interrogation site?" asked Kankurou once again. The Leaf and Sand monthly meetings had never been this informative.

"…I guess you can call it that. You can't really call it interrogation though, since there is little to no resistance going on," this time she smiled.

"…How does that work?"

"Let's just say, if you ever become our enemies and have vital information…get caught by the male shinobi. They have a much lower success rate," the smile never left her face.

The four bodies walked past the hospital and straight into the neighboring Ninja Academy for Girls, which was two blocks down. The four slowly made it up the stairs until they came to a door with a sign on it. It read, "Nurse's Station".

Kankurou felt his eyebrows raise, "This is where you will do your interrogation?"

"No, this is where our friend is going to get fixed up. Our hospital is over booked right now and I know some of the older girls could use some practice with first hand healing," she turned to face him. His face paled and she saw the lump in his throat rise, "…under profession supervision you idiot."

"Oh…that's something you should have said in the beginning."

Together they walked in and Sakura asked him to place the injured Leaf ninja on the bed. After doing so she whispered to one of the passing children who immediately ran off towards the other direction. Sakura walked up to the Sound Ninja and placed her right hand on the side of his head, where the temporal lobes were and her left on the front of his throat, on top of his Adams apple. Her fingers began to glow a soft green.

With a cough the man started to speak, "Bitch, how dare you do that to me!"

Sakura's hands were back at her sides, "Either you shut up or I make you lose your sight as well. I don't do well with name calling from people I don't like."

The man immediately bit his tongue in order to keep himself quiet. There wasn't much he could do anyways, what with the chakra restraints still in play.

"So what? We wait for the interrogator to come?" asked Kankurou.

She turned back towards her friend, "Oh, you can leave. I'll report everything that happened. The hotel three blocks from here should do. Just tell them I sent you and put it on Tsunade's budget. I'll call ahead to make sure that they know that you are coming."

"But Sakura-" he tried to argue. He was a man damit, he could pay for his own nights rest.

"_Please,_" she stretched out when she saw his defiance, "you were in that cave a minimum of 48 hours with no food and more than likely very little water, just go get some rest. I'm sure your council will want to hear everything that has happened and everything that I have told you about our village. You cannot do that properly if you can't even stand."

His mouth dropped, "You told me on purpose?"

Sakura walked over to the Leaf ninja to check his temperature, "I trust you, as do the rest the kunoichi of the village. Can't speak for the men but we rather like your village. Unlike the people I am sure you are meeting with, we think it is best to tell our allies what is happening with us. Obviously not everything but enough that you know what you are dealing with. Friends are there to help, not hinder. I know you won't take advantage of the situation."

"…I promise I won't," was all he could say. "That is a huge show of trust on your part…my village thanks the women of the village for showing us such respect."

Sakura laughed, "Just go get some sleep, and tell your sister she's a whore and that I love her."

His face blanked, "How come you can call her that and I can't? I'd get slapped."

"She likes me _way_ more that she likes you."

"Always nice to know where I stand," he began to walk out of the room when Hinata entered. The two waved as he again began to head towards the hotel.

Hinata turned towards her long time friend, "You going to call ahead?"

"Already had the runner who got you to do it…plus a little more."

Hinata smiled, "Tenten should be thankful you called me and not her. Those two just don't get along."

A high pitched voice permeated the room quite suddenly, "Bitches! I'm here!" yelled a loud voice as another woman stepped into the room. She radiated confidence as her five foot seven frame with long blonde hair up in a pony tail made itself known. She wore a purple skirt with fishnets and a light purple top. Purple after all, was her signature color.

"Hello Ino," giggled Sakura while Hinata just shook her head.

The four shopping bags that Ino was caring suddenly dropped to the floor as she walked over to hug her friends, "I had the best day today! There was this huge sale and-"

"Ino, I love you but I called you in for work," motioned Sakura.

Ino's head snapped to the side and towards the man in the chakra restraints, "Oh, where's he from?"

"Sound, he impersonated a Leaf ninja," smiled Sakura as she walked over with Ino to properly look at the man. Together they studied him like a buyer looking at a pig in a pen. Quite honestly, the description wasn't that far from the truth.

"Oh, the Sound ninja's always have the best stories!" laughed Ino. "Well hurry up, untie him."

The man couldn't believe what he was hearing. _This_ was his interrogator? He was practically being set free! And they were letting him go from his bonds? What was this idiot central?

Sakura snapped her fingers and the draining ropes disappeared before his eyes. He smiled while looking at the idiot ninja, "Bye."

"Stay right there mister, we're not done," smiled Ino.

The man suddenly found himself standing there without the ability to move his feet. That was new. Deciding he must still be under some effect of the chakra ropes he crossed his arms waiting for whatever this was to wear off so he could make a dash for it, "Like that is going to happen."

"We have a lot to talk about, so go pick up my bags. We have a whole bunch to cover and I have a lot more shops to hit," smiled Ino while walking to the door.

The Sound ninja suddenly saw his feet move before his own eyes. "What the-?" He watched as his arms reached out to collect the frilly colored bags and placed them through his arms. Eventually he turned towards her, a look of terror oh his face. How was she doing this to him?

Before he could voice his thoughts the white door labeled 'nurse' burst open, "I'm the interrogator here! He's mine!"

The figure was at very least six foot, probably more like six foot five. He had scars all over his face, was dressed in all black and his head was shaven. His muscles alone should have made the ninja squeamish. The Sound ninja looked from the five foot seven blonde with the latest designer clothes covering her body to the six foot something man covered in scars and a look of death in his eyes. Finally he looked at the man, "I'll go with him!" he yelled. He didn't know how the girl was making him do these things but he figured he could handle whatever this man could dish out over anything she could just _ask_ him.

Ino shook her head, "Sakura brought him in he's-" she turned to the Sound ninja, "sorry, I never did ask your name."

"Roukin," he spoke as his mouth moved on its own accord. He could have smacked himself but he was too busy caring the stupid girl's bags.

Ibiki turned on Ino, "You know nothing of interrogation little girl. Go back to your doll house with designer furniture."

Ino's hair could have been standing on end with how furious she was. No one was allowed to talk to her like that…well maybe Sakura. Her eye's flashed a slight purple, "There are a group of five year old girls outside. You are going to play ponies with them until they have to go home, and you are going to do it _happily_."

Ibiki's eye's flashed the same purple. Without a word he turned around and headed out the door. Ino, knowing what she said would happen turned towards her friends, "I'm off with Roukin, we have _loads_ to talk about."

She twiddled her fingers while waving goodbye. Her eye's again flashed, as did Roukin's, "Now hurry up and keep pace with me."

The two were out the door leaving Sakura, Hinata and the still yet to be identified Leaf ninja alone in the room. Sakura turned towards her best friend, "Thanks for supervising. He's not that bad. I fixed most of it on the way here."

Suddenly a stream of kids came running in, three or four older ones as well. Hinata turned towards the older ones and told them to take their positions. "No need Sakura, my day is open since my dad decided to make a last minute change and take Neji to the Uchiha party today."

"…Speaking of Uchiha and unspeakable amounts pain, what's the count this time?" asked Sakura.

Hinata smiled, "Naruto was first, then Sasuke. Pakkun and the other's got a beating too. A few more rounds with Sasuke and Naruto and last I heard he was at it with Kiba."

Sakura shook her head, "He's getting more violent isn't he?"

Hinata stepped out of the room with her friend and smiled, "He just knows how much he loves you, even if he won't say those words out loud. You can't blame him for caring about you."

Sakura growled, "No but I can care that he's terrorizing the village."

"Maybe just a little," laugh Hinata. The Hyuuga turned around and walked back into the room in order to properly supervise the medical training.

Sakura, knowing the school like the back of her hand, but sadly enough, not as well as she knew the hospital, quickly made her way down the stairs and out the door where she was greeted with a peculiar sight.

Ibiki, interrogator extraordinaire, had two little girls on his back as he ran around the playground. Damn, he had really pissed off Ino hadn't he.

* * *

Mikoto sat up in her bed staring at the ceiling as she pondered what to do about this new…situation. Kakashi had a daughter, one that was Itachi's age. She was already friends with Sasuke, was a medical and ninja master and could make her oldest friend be…human. The look in Kakashi's eyes when he spoke about Sakura was almost magical. He hadn't shown that much emotion in years.

Mikoto bit her bottom lip as her husband rolled over on his side.

How had the Uchiha clan become so distant? Before, she had always known about everyone! Now she didn't even know about Sakura, or her skills, or that Kakashi even had a daughter! This was plain unacceptable.

Mikoto looked out her window. She needed to meet Sakura and figure out everything. She needed to know why Sakura didn't like the Uchiha clan and fix whatever the problem was. She needed Sakura and Itachi to meet.

…She knew one way to make that happen, but she loathed the thought of anything happening to her baby. Slowly she closed her eyes, but this was for Itachi's own good. And the damage wouldn't be permanent. Surely Itachi wouldn't do that to Sasuke. No, she wouldn't have Itachi send Sasuke to the hospital, she was not that desperate. Yet anyways, maybe she would keep that in her arson for later. There were a few other things she could do right now though.

Mikoto flung the covers off her as she glanced at the clock. It read 1:07 in the morning. Ninja's had odd sleeping hours right? She first made her way down to Itachi's room. Without notice she pushed the door open as her feet met the hardwood floor.

Itachi was immediately awake. He had caught onto her adrenaline and was standing before she could say anything. "Mother wh-"

"You and your brother will join me for a stroll tomorrow. I don't care what you have planned, or who it is with."

Mikoto shut the door to Itachi's room before he could even think of arguing.

As she walked back to her room her thoughts strayed to her eldest. She was well aware that he didn't want a wife, and she was also aware that he had yet to form any permanent interest in a girl.

Well she was just going to have to fix that now wasn't she.

* * *

Firevixen73-

Whatever would the world do without meddlesome mothers? Tell me if you like how things are playing out. I personally always thought that Sakura was a huge asset to Leaf, what with her chakra control and being Tsunade's student, and I never felt like she got enough credit from people around her. This is my way of having the other clan's recognize her for her worth. Any questions or comments just let me know.


	4. The Fated Meeting

_A by now very familiar little girl was swinging her legs in the air as she sat on the swing. Sometimes, if she went high enough, it felt like she could fly. Maybe that's what she could do when she became old, she could learn how to fly. Everyone had to have a job right? She didn't want one like Gruin's, cause she didn't think she could be that mean. All the other kids seemed to know what they wanted to do. So it was settled then, she was going to learn how to fly._

_Sakura aimlessly looked over at the other children who were playing in the sand box…now if only she had friends she could tell her new job too. The other kids really didn't like her though. They said that her forehead was too big and her eyes were weird. Sakura huffed, well their eyes were weirdest! If she could take the bullying of the mean boy than she could take anything that they could ever say to her._

_Sakura leaped off the swing as she ran over to the group of kids nearest to her. When she stopped she immediately yelled, "I'm gonna fly when I'm grown up!"_

_A little girl named Amy, who was always particularly mean, was the first to respond. "Well your stupid! No body can fwy!"_

_Sakura again huffed, "It's fly!" but even she said it with a slight lisp. She had been practicing so hard too. She had spent the last month at the library and she had finally learned how to read. The nice lady was even helping her say all the words correctly, "an you watch, I'm gonna fly, I'm gonna fly higher than all of you!"_

_Before Amy could throw anything at her, which was usual for Amy, Sakura spun around and ran out of the sandbox. She didn't stop there though. Instead she ran past the jungle gym, past the swings and went right through the gate. She stopped once to look back at the playground, but she didn't stay there long. She was to mad that Amy didn't think she could fly._

_So, the little girl with bubblegum colored hair walked through the streets aimlessly. She didn't want to go home, and she didn't want to go back where Amy was…what else could she do? It was Sunday so the library was closed so her choices were pretty small. Sakura looked up from the sea of people surrounding her, only to realize that she had no idea where she was. She had never been to this part of town before, it was very far away from where she lived._

_Sakura immediately felt the tears well up in her eyes as fear hit her. Her bottom lip began to tremble and her fists began to shake. Slowly she fell to her knees as the tears began to pour. It started as a muffled noise but eventually her wails became loud enough that the surrounding people noticed the small helpless girl._

_A woman with blonde hair stepped up to her, "Oh honey, are you okay?"_

_Sakura sniffed as she rubbed her eyes to push the tears away, "I'm w-lost!" _

_Another woman was by her side. This one had darker hair and…red eyes? Sakura stopped crying as she looked the woman over. Her mouth went wide as the tears temporarily halted. The two women were speaking but Sakura was to surprised to really notice what they were saying._

_Kurenai leaned over to the civilian woman standing before her, "So what's going on?"_

_The woman looked over at the small child, "It seems she is lost."_

_Kurenai crouched down so she could properly look the little girl in the eye, "Are you lost?"_

_Sakura, still completely mystified, felt her own jaw drop. Tears forgotten, the whole reason for the tears forgotten along with them, Sakura, on hands and knees, slowly crawled over to the amazing woman. Eyes unimaginably wide, Sakura pressed on forward. With one hand outstretched, the other supporting her, Sakura's fingers traced over the outlining of the woman's eyes._

"_There's red in um," she tried to say in disbelief._

_Kurenai smiled, "Yes, they are red, and yours are green."_

_Sakura gulped, "Your w-like me…do you get made fun of too…for w-looking st-w-range?"_

_Kurenai smiled, "I used to."_

_Sakura sat back again in shock. Used to? So, it stops? She looked back over at the woman, "Do you have friends?"_

_Kurenai smiled, "How about I tell you all about it while I take you to the police station?"_

_Sakura parroted her smile as the woman picked her up, "So's you do!"_

_Kurenai laughed at the little girl's grammer. It had been a while since she was last around a child and she had forgotten how they were still learning all the rules and pronunciations of language. "Yes, they are my very best friends."_

"_They don't make fun of you?" asked Sakura as Kurenai weaved in and out of the civilians. _

_It was getting closer to the holidays so everyone was out right now. The streets were so damn busy it was plain ridiculous. Normally she would just jump from rooftop to rooftop but…she rather liked this kid. They would have been there in a minute flat if she took it the fast way. "No, they are really nice…do you have any friends?"_

_Sakura frowned, "No…they think I'm weird."_

"_Good," said Kurenai rather abruptly. She looked down at the child in her arms, "Normal is overrated. You don't want to be like everyone else right?"_

"…_Sorta," whispered Sakura._

_They suddenly stopped in their movements as Kurenai placed Sakura down on the closest bench. She only had to lean down a little bit with Sakura standing on the metal seat, in order to be eye level. "Here is what you do, you find someone who is weird too, okay? Then you become friends with them."_

"_But I don't want to get teased even more!" argued Sakura._

_Kurenai placed her fingers on Sakura's lips, "Do you like how the other people treat you?"_

_Sakura shook her head._

"_Then do whatever you can to make them tease you, because they tease you because your different, you're special. You aren't like them, you are much better. The more they tease you, the more different from them they see you as," smiled Kurenai. "So here is what you do. You find one person your age that you could see the other kids calling names like they call you names, and you say hello, alright? Now don't do it if they are scary looking or if you think they are mean, but do it if they look like someone you could be friends with."_

"…_K, I'll do it," whispered Sakura. _

_Kurenai smiled even wider, "Be brave okay? For me?"_

_Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at her new found friend. She nodded vigorously, promising herself that she would be brave. "You-you have to make me pinky promise though!"_

_Kurenai stepped back, "Pinky promise?"_

_Sakura's eyes were fierce as she explained, "Nothing is stronger than a pinky promise! I-I might back out if you don't make me do it!" Sakura took the tattered glove off of her hand and pushed the material into her coat pocket. Her pinky was soon exposed as she made a half a loop._

_Kurenai couldn't help but laugh a little bit as she too held out her hand for a proper pinky promise. When that was done, and Sakura had her glove back on so she didn't freeze, Kurenai hurried her over to the building behind them._

_Sakura, who was ecstatic before, suddenly became petrified. She immediately dug her heals into the ground as Kurenai tried to pull her in, "Hon, what's wrong?"_

_Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at the symbol on the doorway…she knew that symbol, "Mean boy!" she screamed._

"_Mean…boy?" tried Kurenai._

_Sakura ran up to Kurenai and entwined herself in the young woman's legs, "The mean boy, that's the symbol he always has on his back!" She ducked her head in between Kurenai's legs while swishing her head from side to side as if on the immediate look out._

"_Oh…well this is the police station, where I have to drop you off…" tried Kurenai once again._

_Sakura shook her head in an almost authoritative manor, if it wasn't for her being two feet and three years old, it might have worked, "No, the mean boy might be here. He's very mean you know. He made my bunny get eaten by the tiger, and he tried to put this glowy stuff inside of my brain!"_

_Kurenai picked Sakura up as she listened to the small girls words. A tiger? Her bunny? Glowy stuff? As in chakra? What kind of kid would use chakra on a sweet girl like this? "Tell me if you see him okay?" She didn't tell the girl it was so she could kick this kid's ass if she saw him._

_Sakura nodded as they stepped into the building. Kurenai immediately went to the front desk where Sakura was asked her name, address and an explanation for what happened. Sakura looked at her new friend as Kurenai hugged her goodbye, "Goodbye Sakura, I promise to come and visit you okay?"_

_Sakura nodded._

"_Don't forget your promise now, okay? And promise to visit me on Christmas? It's only a few weeks away you know."_

_Sakura nodded again. The Uchiha at the desk immediately picked the young girl up and placed her on the wooden bench on the other side of the room. Sakura, who had kept eye contact with Kurenai was now completely depressed that her new friend was gone. Oblivious to her surroundings she huffed. She was lonely already._

_Sakura swung her head to the side when she heard a sniffling noise next to her. Beside her sat a little girl with short brown hair, pale skin, a really nice dress and…white eyes! She had white eyes! They were like hers and Kurenai's, they were weird!...oh, they were weird. That meant… Kurenai's words immediately came to mind, as did the pinky promise…but, did she have to do it right away? The image of the pinky promise came back…you never break a pinky promise. Not ever. _

"_Hey," she whispered while leaning over, "you're littler than me!"_

_The little girl looked up as she continued sniffling but she didn't say a word. Sakura wasn't sure what to do now, Kurenai never told her what do after trying to talk to the other person. "Umm…your dress is prweety," she tried._

_The little girl kept sniffling but did look down at her dress. Sakura could have sworn she saw a slight blush. "Wanna be best fwiends?" she asked randomly. She had never had a best friend before, and she had always wanted one._

_The little girl looked back up as she stopped crying. Slowly she inched closer until they were right next to each other. Sakura watched as the little girls hand slowly rose, the extension of one little pinky finger standing out. Sakura gasped, "The ultimate pwomise!"_

_Sakura held out her own pinky finger as the two connected. Both smiled at the same time, then eventually started to laugh._

"_My names Sakura!" smiled the pink haired girl brightly._

"…_Mwine is Hinata."_

* * *

Sakura was laying across Hinata's desk as the woman meticulously sharpened her pencils. The pink haired woman's body was stretched out across the wooden table, her head resting at one end and her feet dangling off the other edge. She looked like the animal depicted on the whiskered cat mask that she wore on her face.

"I'm bored," she sighed.

Hinata did not even bother to look up from her seat as she moved things that she needed across her desk. "You could go to the hospital."

"I can't, Tsunade cut my hours so I could watch the visiting ninja," Sakura rolled from her back onto her stomach, effectively hiding all of Hinata's paperwork. "Speaking of ninja, how are you getting out of your family walk today?"

Hinata smiled as she graded another homework assignment, "I already have plans with my close friend Sakura. We are having a picnic by the lake. It has been planned for months. Father cannot make me cancel something that has taken so much time to plan."

Sakura smiled as well, "So what time should I be there?"

"Around four or so. That is usually when I have to go on our weekly walks together."

Sakura decided that Hinata was capable of taking care of herself, and could handle her next statement. "I heard Neji is up for Hyuuga clan title."

Hinata finally looked up but her classroom door suddenly burst open. She was stopped before she was even given the chance to start. Three rowdy ninja boys came leaping into the room, a fourth right behind who was covered in mud. "Not funny guys!" he yelled.

Sakura scrunched up her noise, "I'm getting out of here before the big boys arrive. Let me know if you see any pyro action worthy of notice."

Sakura was gone in a black swirl of smoke. The four boys did not notice a thing.

* * *

Sakura sat with a basket of food in her lap as she sat angrily on the cold, wet grass. Hinata, who was sitting on the red, black and white blanket, giggled as Sakura ignored her. Well, at least she tried to ignore her. "Shut up Hinata."

Tenten, who had immediately taken the offer to join her two best friends for an early dinner, did not hide her amusement and full on laughed. She was no lady in training, there was no reason for her to be polite.

Sakura, seeing an opening, quickly grabbed the nearest piece of food, which was a left over carrot, and launched it at her friends.

Hinata stifled her laughter, "Come on Sakura, it's just a blanket."

Sakura crossed her arms, "It's the devil's blanket. I am not sitting on it."

Tenten stretched lazily on the fluffy piece of cloth, "Then why did you bring it?"

Sakura contemplated throwing another carrot at her friends, maybe this one would be drenched with ranch or something. "I thought it was Sasuke's."

Tenten quickly rolled over to the corner of the oversized blanket and pulled the tag out for everyone to see. She cleared her throat and repeated what it said in a somewhat, but not really, serious manner, "To my Grandson Itachi, happy fifth birthday."

This time when they broke out into fits of laughter, they not only got the carrots, but the dressing that went with it thrown at them.

* * *

Itachi and Sasuke both walked next to their mother in silence. Neither one of them had any idea what she was planning but it was obviously something important. Mikoto was looking for something, or someone. "Mother, is there anything we can help you with?" asked Itachi. It was not often he was truly annoyed with his mother, but he was losing valuable training hours due to this pointless walk.

Mikoto turned her head from left to right, again, looking for something, "No, dear. I am fine. I am just happy to spend a few minutes with my boys. We never spend any time together anymore."

Sasuke rolled his eyes in disagreement. They lived together didn't they?

"Hinabi, do keep up."

Mikoto froze and her face lit up with joy. In an instant she was around the bend, her two son's right behind her. Who knew what trouble she could get herself in without them around to stop it? They both got there in time to see her greeting Hiashi and Hinabi Hyuuga. "What a surprise Hiashi, to see you here," she said while smiling.

Even Hiashi could not help his surprise at seeing here there, "Mikoto, do you walk here often?"

"Oh, every chance I get. It is good quality time with my sons. They are so busy with their ninja work that we try to spend some time together as a family," she was speaking as if this was not an out of the blue request for her sons. "Do you take your daughters here often?"

"Every week for the past year. We always travel the same route, breeds consistency," he answered formally.

Mikoto turned her attention towards Hinabi, "You are the youngest are you not? And how are you and your friends?"

Hinabi was confused, and contrary to everything she had ever been taught, she was showing it. "Umm…good?"

"That is wonderful. You and a few of your friends should come to dinner one of these nights. I feel like I barely know any of the other clans anymore," smiled Mikoto. She was a master manipulator when it came her sons, she would do absolutely anything for them. "What about Kakashi's daughter, you are close with her aren't you?"

Sasuke immediately paid attention to the conversation. Sakura? Not this again. He could have sworn he made his views on the matter clear. Sasuke briefly glanced over to his brother who was following the conversation as well. Perhaps he could slip out during the confusion. It seemed that his mother did not know that it was Hinata she should be having this conversation with. Well, he did not want to be there when she found out.

Carefully, because his brother was incredibly good at detecting movement, Sasuke took a few steps back. Itachi was still standing a good six feet away from him with no sign of movement. Sasuke took another step back, and then another, his eyes continuously on his brother. Just as he was in mid-turn and about to hightail it out of there he ran into something hard. He was immediately on the ground from the impact. Black shoes, black pants, Uchiha clan symbol…shit. Itachi had gotten him again. Sasuke looked over at the spot where his brother had been not a half a second ago, then to where he stood now. His face was still impassive, and he was just as engrossed in the conversation. The bastard didn't even give him the satisfaction of eye contact.

"Why are you running?" asked Itachi.

Sasuke stood up and glared at his older brother, "It will be safer that way."

They both listened in on the ongoing conversation when Hinabi spoke once again, "Oh, I am not all that close with Sakura. I really only see her when she is visiting my sister."

Both boys watched as Mikoto kept her composure, "Oh, well, I still want you over. But may I ask, where is your sister?"

Hiashi spoke this time, "She is having a picnic with a few of her friends. They have been planning this for some time and I did not want to ruin her day."

Mikoto smiled, "Well that was very kind of you Hiashi. I will let you and your daughter have your walk then." Before she could completely leave, Itachi and Sasuke both behind her, she turned back towards Hiashi, "Are they eating here?"

Hiashi turned back around, "I believe so, but I did not ask."

"Thank you Hiashi," the two bowed to each other as they went their separate ways.

As soon as she knew Hiashi and Hinabi were out of sight and hearing range Mikoto turned towards Sasuke, "Alright, where is she?"

Sasuke looked towards his brother, and then his mother, then back again, "No."

He tried to walk off, but his mother stepped in front of him. "Is it a crime to want to meet my son's old ninja partner?"

"No, but it is a crime to try to set her up with said son's brother." Again he tried to leave but his mother stopped him. He needed to get around her on his own, if he used any ninja skills Itachi would go all momma's boy and stop him, even if his mother was once again trying to set him up with someone.

"Sasuke, you tell me which direction she is or I'll make sure Sakura goes on a two month mission. I still have some sway in how this town works, so do not underestimate me," she argued.

Sasuke briefly considered the options. He could leave, and deal with Kakashi for two months, or he could tell her the general direction of Sakura's chakra signature and hope for the best. The best being that Itachi finds Sakura boring and leaves her alone.

Like Sakura could ever be boring. Annoying as hell yes, but never boring.

"Do you want to make it three months?" asked his mother.

Damn, Itachi got his bastard ways from their mother. And all this time he had thought it was from their father. Defeated, he pointed towards the nearest lake. "She's with her friends."

His mother walked up and kissed his cheek in an affectionate manner, "Good boy."

It was official, he was a dog. A lap dog actually, perhaps a somewhat loved family pet bred specifically for amusement and fetching things. It was a sad day when his own mother was the one to point this out to him. Perhaps Naruto had it right, living alone no family to speak of. Life was much simpler that way.

Together the three of them walked over to the general direction of Sakura's chakra signature. Mikoto was in the front, leading the group, Itachi was in the middle trying to determine why the name Sakura sounded so familiar and Sasuke was brooding in the back. This was not supposed to be how his day went.

They walked a good mile before anything eventful happened. They passed trees, they marched through bushes and no one spoke a word. Not that any of them minded, Uchiha's liked silence. They always had, and unless something interesting was being said, it was likely to stay that way. When they were about ten or so yards away Sasuke became nervous. The group of three was heading directly for them, probably none the wiser of their intentions. If anything, they probably thought his group were civilians on a walk since ninja rarely came to this area.

"Seriously, that is not funny," spoke an all too familiar voice.

"No really Sakura, it's just a blanket. Hinata back me up would you?" spoke Tenten.

Both his mother and Itachi stopped as they heard the voices approaching.

"I'm with Sakura, she shouldn't tempt fate like that. She has gone a good decade with no problems, I don't blame her for being cautious," laughed Hinata.

"You two are way too superstitious for ninja. Didn't they beat that out of you in the academy?" laughed Tenten.

A girl with pink hair made her way around a tree as she continued to laugh. She was walking backwards while arguing with her friends. One hand was placed behind her head and a basket of food rested on the crook of her other elbow. "I've seen death enough times to know what arrogance can get you. I am not taking that chance. You touched it last, you are carrying it Tenten."

A girl with two brown buns on the top of her head quickly came around the same tree, "For a ninja you sure are a wimp Sakura."

Tenten suddenly stopped in her tracks as she looked past her friend. There was no fucking way. Her jaw dropped as she continued to stare.

"Tenten, you should leave Sakura alo-" came Hinata's voice. She was abruptly stopped when Tenten swung her arm out to halt her. As soon as Tenten's arm made contact with Hinata's chest the heiress looked up, "What was that-" she stopped midsentence as well when her legendary all seeing eyes finally picked up what was right in front of her. Oh hell. This was not good. Of course, she could not find the words to warn her pink haired friend. Her throat seemed incapable of speech at the moment.

"S-Sak….umm," tried Hinata.

Sakura continued to walk backwards, completely disregarding everything around her. "What's up Hin-ummph." Sakura suddenly collided with something hard and warm. Because she was a medic she immediately recognized the solid object as a body. From the physique and height she could guess it was a male, most likely a ninja and not to mention a deliciously fit one.

She turned around to apologize, "I am so sorry-" but her words died on her lips. Sakura's eye's dilated as they tried to take in the situation around her. Itachi, flipping Itachi Uchiha was standing in front of her. No, she was not standing in _front_ of him, she had just ran _into_ him. Him, Itachi Uchiha, the devil reincarnate sworn to torture her throughout her entire childhood. Here was the man she had spent her entire teen years trying to avoid.

Itachi was stunned as well. The bubble gum pink hair, the big green eyes, the inability to watch where she is going. As if cued, his memories of her came flying back to him. He remembered the scraggly looking girl that served as his entertainment as a child, the girl who had constantly gotten him in trouble usually with his mother of all things.

Sakura could have cowered when she saw the wicked and oh so familiar smirk slowly make its way across his face. In fact, if she had been any less of a woman, she probably would be shaking right now. Of course, she was to utterly shocked to check and make sure that she was not convulsing like a civlian so maybe she wasn't as brave as she thought she was.

Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Tenten threw the Uchiha clan blanket on the ground in horror, "Alright, I'm converted."

Sakura internally growled. Well it was a little late for that.

"Sakura," spoke Itachi pleasantly.

"Uchiha," she hissed angrily.

"…Do you two know each other?" asked Mikoto as she surveyed the situation. The pink hair looked familiar, but she could not really place it.

Sakura and Itachi's eyes were still locked in their battle, "Is that my blanket Sakura? If it is, I have been missing it for quite some time."

He watched as her face turned a shade darker in embarrassment. She quickly gave up the battle as her face turned an even brighter shade. She twisted towards her friends as they stared awkwardly. "We should go."

Hinata continued to watch, her manners completely gone, "Yeah, leave, probably should." She remained standing there.

Tenten wasn't much help either, "Sometimes I think you are cursed."

Sakura, deciding she really could not take much more of this, swung around and marched over to her friends. "We have to go, people to save and all." She latched onto both of her friends arms and pulled them past the group of three. Itachi watched as she marched off, tripping every now and then as she scurried away.

Screw it, Sakura could have cared less that she looked like some little academy student running away from the big bad S class criminal. Sometimes self-preservation trumped everything else the world could throw at you.

His mother turned towards Itachi when the pink haired vixen was finally out of sight, "Do you already know her?"

"I do mother, it has been a while since we last spoke though. Perhaps it is time we caught up."

* * *

Sakura was pacing in her room as she tried not to have a panic attack. She had decided that today had never happened. She never went on a picnic with Hinata, they did not sit on a cursed blanket, she did not bump into Uchiha and he did not remember her. So, if all of this did not happen, then why was her heart rate twice its normal speed? That's right, because her life was ruined.

She knew that damn smirk. It was the same smirk he gave her as kids, the one that told her he had done something particularly awful.

"Sakura, maybe you should calm down," tried Hinata.

Sakura ignored her.

"Maybe he's changed. Hinata has to see him all the time and he's never done anything to her," argued Tenten.

Sakura turned towards her friend, "He never did anything to her in the first place. It was always _me_ he was trying to kill."

Hinata couldn't help but agree with Sakura, but that didn't mean she couldn't help calm her friend down. "He's not a little kid any more. I am sure he has grown out of all those childish acts. He is an adult and the clan heir, he will know better than to start something with you."

Sakura turned towards Hinata, hope in her eyes, "Please tell me you actually believe that and aren't just trying to make me feel better."

"…I believe it…sort of," it was no use. Hinata just was not a born liar.

Sakura immediately collapsed onto her bed. After a few minutes of deep breathing she was able to calm herself down. "No, I am a grown woman. I will not become bothered by a man like him. I am not a little kid any more. He is not going to do anything because he is a clan leader. Uchiha has a reputation to keep. He is stoic, cold and above all an adult."

After a few mantras of that she jumped off her bed and headed for her dresser. Her friends were by her side. Tenten was the first to stop her. "Where are you going?"

Sakura pulled out a sports bra and a pair of jogging shorts. After changing she headed towards her front door, "I need to go for a run. I need to get rid of this energy."

Hinata quickly grabbed the nearest jacket and handed it to Sakura, "Take this, it is going to rain."

Sakura gave a brief nod in thanks as she headed out the door.

Both girls watched her leave.

"So do you think he will leave her alone?" asked Tenten.

Hinata shook her head, "No way, did you see that smile. He remembered her. I don't know what he has planned but she is not going to like it."

Sakura ran for a good hour before taking a rest. From what she could tell she had maybe ten or fifteen minutes before the rain started. At the same time, she did not want to go home. Honestly speaking, she was over her childhood trauma…but there were certain things you never forget.

She had heard all the stories about Itachi and his conquests. About his missions, the women, Anbu…she knew it all. She wasn't stalking him or anything but he was a rather large topic around Leaf. It was hard not to go a week without hearing about him.

Sakura huffed as she leaned against the nearest tree, her eyes closed in bliss. A nice run in the rain might be good for her. Sakura's eyes snapped open. In an instant she was fully alert, eyes fixed on the man in front of her.

"Hey."

Sakura relaxed as that oh so soothing voice helped her to calm down. Slowly she walked up to the silver haired masked man, "Hey."

Before he could say anything her arms were wrapped around his as she buried her nose into his chest. She had always loved his scent. It had never failed to calm her down. Right now she couldn't have needed it more. Deep down she knew something was going to happen, she knew everything was resting on a topsy turvy axil that was about to break any minute. She needed him right now, she needed him to calm her.

Kakashi, who only accepted affection from her, slowly wrapped his arms around his daughter, "You look stressed."

She closed her eyes and inhaled again, "I've just had a long week. What about you?" came her muffled voice. "Did you have fun kicking the crap out of everyone you came across?"

Kakashi laughed as he walked her over to the nearest tree. After a bit he sat down, her right along with him. "I did actually. I am thinking that I am getting soft though. I only made them tired, none of them passed out this time."

Sakura pulled herself up from his chest, "You really need another outlet."

"I hate that you are in Anbu."

Nothing else needed to be said. Sakura and Kakashi had both known that the other knew. She knew it drove him crazy and he knew that there was nothing he could do to stop her. She had always been strong willed.

"What about joining a team?" he tried.

"I have a team, I just prefer solo missions."

"I mean a male shinobi team. Many of them put in requests for medics and at least that way I know that you are being looked after."

Sakura growled, "I can look after myself."

He sighed, "Things can happen on solo missions."

"Things can happen on group ones too," she countered.

"Sakura, what if something goes wrong and no one is there to save you?" he asked.

"I have become quite good at saving myself. I've been doing it since I was a kid, there are just more enemies now."

Kakashi frowned. He still did not like the idea of her going on such dangerous missions, especially by herself. "Why are you so difficult?"

Sakura smiled as she buried her face further into her father's shirt, "Family trait."

* * *

_Two little girls were playing on the orphanage swing. The first was standing on the rubber contraption as the second sat with her ankles crossed on the nearby one. They had been playing for hours but still had plenty of energy to keep them going._

"_What's your family like?" asked Sakura._

_Her new best friend Hinata frowned a little bit, "I don't's think my families like me bery much."_

_Sakura looked down at her friend, "Why?"_

"_They's never hug me and my daddy is mean."_

_Sakura frowned, "What about yours momma?"_

_Hinata frowned some more, "She is always with da baby. And they's never let me hold her."_

_Sakura couldn't help but feel sorry for her best friend. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have a family, let alone one that didn't like you. She looked over to the guard that was inside with Gruin. They were talking about grown up stuff and drinking that gross black drink. Well, at least Mis Gruin was, she did not know about the man with eyes like Hinata's._

"_But they're gonna get you a Christmas present w-right? Cause that would be w-really mean if they didn't," she asked while trying to fix her pronunciations._

"_I think so…" considered Hinata._

"_Maybe-" Sakura was suddenly face first up close and personal with the dirt, apparently it wanted to get to know her better. Her body was spread out across the ground but she managed a brief look up to see black boots. She knew those stupid feet, they always came attached to the mean boy._

_She quickly got up and glared at the black haired boy in front of her, "Why did you do that you stupid meanie!"_

_The little boy's eyes continued to glare at her, "You got me grounded."_

_Sakura quickly stood on her tippy toes as she attempted to stand chest to chest with him. Of course, it was more like forehead to chest but that was okay. She just needed to keep her glare steady, "You got me dirty!"_

"_You deserved it," he countered, he eyes steady as they conveyed his hatred._

"_Santa Clause is gonna put you on the naughty list!" she argued back._

_Suddenly, the mean boy's face grew wicked. She had never seen such an awful look before, not even from Miss Gruin and she could be really mean. The corner of his lips turned up just slightly and his eyes narrowed maybe a fraction of an inch. "Santa Clause doesn't exist, adults put the presents under the tree when you are sleeping."_

_Sakura and Hinata both gasped at once but the Uchiha boy was gone before either one of them could argue their point. As soon as the dust cleared from his teleportation both Hinata's and Sakura's eyes began to water._

_Sakura sniffled, "He-he was lying!"_

_Hinata sniffled, "Daddy says Uchiha's are mean, now I'se believe him." _

_Sakura turned to her friend, "Is that his name? Uchiha?"_

_Hinata nodded her head in reply._

_Sakura frowned. She really did not like the stupid Uchiha! Almost immediately the guard who was supposed to be watching Hinata came from inside, Ms Gruin right behind him. When he saw the two nearly in tears little girls, he was immediately shocked. Just ten minutes ago they were all smiles and giggles!_

"_What happened?" he asked both girls._

_Sakura turned towards the man, "Mean Uchiha boy says that there is no Santa Clause! He says that the grownups put the presents under the trees!"_

_When Hinata heard the words again her eyes began to tear up even more, "I no like Uchiha."_

_The guard frowned. Great, just great. Lord Hiashi was going to kill him._

* * *

**Firevixen73** - I am back! Yay for a new chapter and they finally met! I know everyone has been waiting for this so I'm glad to post it. Also, for those who read _Kagome's Trial_, a Sesshomaru/Kagome fic, it is in the woodworks. I had it completely writen and then my roommate removed the drive it was on and deleted everything. It has been really hard to re-write it since in my mind it was already done. It is coming along slowly. Please review!


	5. A Challenge is Made

_Sakura snuggled up to her stuffed rabbit while giggling. It was the only thing she had of her mommy's and she almost always kept it safe. Usually there was her drawer that Bunny always slept in, during the day anyways, but today was different. Everyone was cleaning before the rooms got all stuffy because of the winter frosts. While it was a nicer day, they were airing out the rooms and cleaning all the beds._

_When Sakura heard about all the work being done she quickly ran upstairs and pulled the stuffed rabbit out from his drawer. She didn't want Bunny to start sneezing because of all the dust._

_So instead she sat outside with her coat on as she snuggled with Bunny. It was warmer than most days so she didn't bother with her mittens and hat. Instead she sat under a tree and whispered stories to her stuffed friend about a romantic hero, with a real sword and everything, who saved the princess in the tower. Sakura had read the story a few days ago and it had stayed with her. Briefly, she wondered if the two needed a daughter, maybe a little girl about her age. She would be really good if they came and got her. She promised._

_Before she could finish her story, she was right at the point where the prince was going to save the sleeping princess, the tree above her shook, just slightly. When she looked up, all she could see was a flash of a dark black, and a pile of white flying at her. She screamed briefly but the sound was immediately muffled by the snow that landed on her. When she opened her eyes she panicked. She was surrounded by snow, but that was of course not what actually scared her._

_Bunny was gone._

_She quickly pushed herself to the surface, only having to dig for a few seconds, and desperately looked around. She looked up to see that the tree she was sitting under no longer had any snow on it. Instead it housed bare branches and a boy with long black hair sitting in said tree. In his right hand dangled her precious Bunny._

_"Bunny!" she screamed in fright._

_The boy looked down at her and growled, "This thing is dirty, why do you have it?"_

_Sakura immediately started to dig herself completely out of the snow. She worked furiously at getting her feet out of the white encasing, who knew what he would do to Bunny if she didn't get out. By the time she pulled herself free the mean boy was staring at her most prized possession in disgust, "Give it back!"_

_Itachi looked at the toy and then back at the girl. A wicked grin formed, one she was beginning to recognize, "This old thing?"_

_She stomped her foot angrily, "Right now!" Her pronunciation of words had gotten much better, but she was not in the mood the care at this particular moment. She was more worried about her white, well, used to be white, floppy eared friend._

_"I'll let it go, maybe while I'm jumping over a dumpster," he said while snickering._

_Sakura growled. An actual growl. She was not going to let the mean boy take her toy. So, when Itachi jumped down from the ground, and stood only a few feet in front of her, she jumped and tried to take back her Bunny._

_Itachi just held it higher, and jumped just slightly out of the way every time she came close. "To slow," he mocked._

_Sakura tried jumping again, "He doesn't like you!"_

_Itachi switched hands as Sakura made another dodge for Bunny. This time though, Sakura was not only angry, but incredibly determined. Instead of landing on the ground like Itachi had anticipated, she aimed for his foot. Itachi saw what she was doing a split second before it happened and moved. Unfortunately for him it gave the girl just enough time to pull the toy from his hands while he repositioned himself._

_She yanked the toy down towards her little body and stuck out her tongue, "Go away! Bunny and I don't want you here!"_

_She quickly held the toy tighter and turned around. The moment her back was facing him she returned her attention towards the toy. She lovingly brushed the snow from his ears and smiled. As she began to walk, effectively ignoring the Uchiha heir, Sakura began retelling her story._

_She did not notice the angry Uchiha behind her._

_She did not know that Uchiha's are never ignored, or that she had just effectively snubbed him._

_She did not know that when an Uchiha wants your attention you give it to them, not to some little toy instead._

_She did not know that Uchiha's do not like to share._

* * *

Sakura was not paranoid, she was wary. There was a big difference between the two contrary to what people around her had been more than willing to point out. Luckily, as soon as Kurenia and Shizune had been briefed on the situation, thanks to Hinata, they were more than willing to get off her case. Both of them knew the torment Itachi had put her though as a child. With that said, they knew there were some skeletons people did not want to bring back to life, no matter how much a person had moved on.

For the past week she had constantly checked over her shoulder, scanned her room for misplaced items, and added a deadbolt to her office door. No, she was not paranoid, just cautious. It was only after a week of high stress that she decided that maybe Itachi had grown up a little and was allowing their past to be just that, the past. It was two days after that epiphany that she realized just how naïve her thinking had been.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning that the war started. She had managed to squeeze in a day off because of her double shift on Thursday and was relishing in the fact that she was able to sleep in. No emergency surgeries, no homicidal patients and above all, no interns. Contrary to popular belief, interns were a pain in the ass. She loved them to death but they were going to send her to her early grave. They only knew about half the procedures they needed to, though they claimed to know more than their advisors yet screwed up on something at least once a day. When you times that by seventeen interns only then do you have a good portion of her day. Luckily Shizune took care of the administrative end of the hospital so most of their legal mess ups weren't her problem, just the killing patient's part.

Of course, trying to find an experienced doctor to babysit them was hell too. They would have to be willing to take time out of their day to train the intern, take blame for their screw ups and meticulously check over their work. To say the least it was time consuming and stressful. But today, that was not her problem. No, her only worry was whether she should get up from the left or right side of the bed.

Slowly, like a cat bathing in the sun, she stretched her back, arching a good couple of inches from the mattress. Today was a day of relaxation. She was fulfilling her first order of business which was staying in bed as long as humanly possible. Her second order of business was to call in some takeout because she did not want to cook on her day off. Heck, she was entitled to be lazy everyone once in a while. Then, when she was ready she was going to take a nice long bubble bath, play some music and ignore the rest of the world for a good few hours.

She sighed dreamily and rolled out of bed, right side, half of her covers coming with her. Today it did not matter that she was dragging half her bedroom with her as she walked around the house, because she had no intention of making her bed. After making her way to her phone, which for some reason was located underneath her couch, she quickly dialed the now memorized number for her favorite Chinese restaurant about three blocks away.

She waited as the phone rang and visibly lit up when the familiar voice answered. Before the usual greeting could be given Sakura interrupted, "Cho! Hey it's Sakura."

The woman now identified as Cho immediately stopped talking in her 'boring business mode' as she dubbed it and squealed. "Hey, how are you? You haven't ordered in a while."

Sakura smiled as she walked around the counter in order to grab herself a glass of water, "I know, my Dad and everyone have been around a lot lately and demand home cooked meals. I say that they should have to cook once a week if they want it that badly but I got out voted. Imagine that."

Cho giggled, "Who would have thought they'd bail on you like that? So you want your usual?"

Sakura smiled, "Yeah, but add and extra order of wantons, I feel like not caring what I'm doing to my body."

Cho giggled, "Alright, I'll place it in. Promise to see me soon? All the cute waiters left and now I have no one to gush about."

Sakura rolled her eyes as Cho's comment, "Sure, I'll bring along another friend. Her name is Ino, I think you will get along great."

"Oh, and maybe that Uchiha boy. The one that is always with you and the blonde?" she asked pleadingly.

Sakura had to keep herself from scoffing. Sasuke would kill her if she ever introduced him to Cho. He had enough fan girls, he did not want more. "I'll try."

"Bye my favorite blossom tree!"

Cho hung up and Sakura sighed. Cho was a handful, one that was sure to get either fired or a raise if she kept befriending all the regulars. It was still up in the air. Sakura placed her phone down and finished her water. Eventually she went back into her room as she threw the covers in an unorganized manner back onto her bed. Before she could even reach over to untangle it even a little bit the doorbell rang. Shocked, because The Great Dragon Restaurant had never been that fast, she walked over to the door. Cho must have rushed her order or something, or maybe they had a few genin doing deliveries.

Sakura grabbed her money, which she had placed on the counter earlier, and opened the door…only to be face to face with Shizune. "I'm not on call today," was her automatic response.

Shizune rushed in angrily, "Uchiha really hates you. I was talking to Tsunade today about the big negotiations with the clans of the village only to find out that Uchiha told her that he wanted you to do it. Civic duty and all, since us higher ups all have to be involved in politics somehow."

Sakura scoffed, "So why the rush? So I have to meet with a few clans-" but she was cut off by her frantic friend who was throwing things all over her counter.

"Let me finish. He told her that he had already sent a messenger to your door informing you about the decision, even had a written copy of informed consent in your handwriting-" she tried to say but Sakura cut her off.

"I never received a-" Shizune glared at her interruption as she pointed to the chair. Sakura sat down obediently and started to pick up the files.

Shizune quickly started where she left off, "Well of course he did not actually send one, that would be chivalrous. This was five days ago…and the meeting is in an hour."

Sakura jumped out of her seat, "What?"

Shizune pushed her back down into the chair with a firm hold and sighed, "Study, now."

Sakura immediately turned to the pages in front of her, "Shizune, this looks like a land dispute! I don't know anything about this!"

Shizune sighed, "Well of course you don't and undoubtedly Uchiha is counting on that. He can embarrass the hell out of you while possibly giving his clan the upper hand in something. He really is a genius, it's amazing he came up with this on such short notice."

Sakura glared while standing angrily, "What about _my_ short notice!"

Shizune pushed her back down into the chair when Sakura tried to pace, "Calm down and study, you need to beat him at his own game or you are going to look like a total fool in front of everyone important in the Leaf. Something this big, something that has been in the words this long being totally screwed up due to your inability is downright mean. He has to know how bad it will look for you, possibly even demoted. There is of course the backlash on the female ninja on the village as well. Undoubtedly this will be blamed on our genders so called inadequacy. Oh yes, genius indeed. You have got to win this Sakura, for yourself and the female shinobi of the village."

Sakura growled under her breath, "No, I need to lose so he'll grow bored and leave me alone. Unfortunately I'm way too stubborn and prideful for that." Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated on her situation. She could study for hours and it still would not help. There was history, battles and land disputes that went back hundreds of years that she would need to know. That would take weeks, even with her memorizing capability. Then she would have, under normal circumstances, taken the time to study the clan leaders to figure out the best method to deal with their outrageous requests. There was no way she could do this in an hour, not by herself anyways.

Sakura looked back up at Shizune, "Get me Ino and Hinata."

"But you need to study…"

Shizune did not understand what needed to be done, she did not understand the Uchiha mind, or hers. No, this was on a whole different level then she was used to. Sakura was going to have to do what most people considered cheating if she wanted to come out on top. Of course, to her it wasn't cheating because her opponent was doing the same thing. "I need them in the next five minutes."

"But-"

"I've dealt with _at least_ one Uchiha my whole life. They may have been different members, they may have been during different times but an Uchiha is an Uchiha and I know how to beat them." There was no room for argument in her tone, Sakura knew exactly what she was talking about and it was apparent Shizune needed understood that in order to calm down.

Shizune reluctantly nodded and ran out the door, chakra at her feet and ninja grace allowing her to zoom through the city.

Sakura turned back to the papers before her and leafed through the documents. One in particular caught her eye and she pulled it to the side. Normally she would have bypassed such an outdated piece but when dealing with an Uchiha, the little things you would normally ignore more than often were what saved you. The paper was hard to read, ripped and faded. Perhaps a restoration jutsu would work. She had never done it on anything so frail but it was worth a try. Sakura carefully allowed her chakra to leak through the page, fiber by fiber. After about ten minutes of painstakingly trying to restore the dead cells she looked down at the page. It was still hard to read but some of the ink had begun to darken and the pages were a little less worn.

When she managed a quick read over the document Sakura smiled. Carefully she pulled out all the remaining paper like it, performing the same jutsu, but with less intensity, when necessary.

When she was done Sakura turned to see Hinata, Ino and Shizune running through the door. "Shizune told us what the bastard did," growled Ino.

She motioned them to the table but stopped Shizune, "Go to the town hall and grab me every piece of document that we have during the early foundation of Leaf. I think I might be able to stick it to Uchiha if I can pull this off."

Shizune smirked, "Anything you want."

Shizune was once again out the door. Sakura turned to her friends and smiled a wicked grin, "Hinata, you still hate all the bureaucratic crap that goes on between the clans right?"

Hinata smiled and gave a small blush, "Yes, I do."

Sakura turned to Ino, "You still like showing up whoever you can right?"

Ino gave a flat out smirk, "Any day of the week, night or day."

Sakura clapped her hands together and smiled a full on grin, "Good, because Ino you are going to rifle through the minds of a few noble's and Hinata is going to brief me on the other clans."

Hinata looked around, "But what about all the information you need to learn?"

"If all goes right, and Shizune gets me the papers, it won't matter."

* * *

Sakura walked into the building with a false air of confidence surrounding her. Of course, she was dealing with the abnormally rich and powerful, anything less and she was done for. If they detected even the slightest hesitance her plan was worthless. So, Sakura walked into the room with her trusty 'advisor' Ino right behind her. Luckily the girl was born with the confidence of a peacock so Sakura didn't have to worry about her blowing anything.

While walking in she gave a quick wink towards Hinata who sat next to her father and her younger sister. She continued down the hall and passed a few other clans, such as the Inuzuka and Nara, and then of course the Uchiha. She gave no indication to the man that she knew was sitting there of her uneasiness, or her blatant hatred towards him, even though she desperately wanted to turn around and stick her tongue out at him.

So much for maturity coming with age.

When she reached her podium Sakura turned towards the fellow clans. From what Hinata had told her the Uchiha's and Hyuuga's were both disputing over the same land. Part of it ran through the Nara and Inuzuka clan land which would explain their being here. From what else she could gather it went much deeper than that. Things were never black and white when it came to Uchiha and Hyuuga disputes. They tended to hate each other to much for something to be simple.

With a deep breath she turned to the opposing clans. "Hyuuga, you will argue your point first."

Hiashi Hyuuga gave the Uchiha clan leader, Fugaku, a satisfied look before turning back to face Sakura. He obviously thought she had chosen him to speak because of Sakura's friendship with his daughter. He was of course wrong, she had chosen the Hyuuga's because Itachi was there and she _didn't_ want his side to go first.

"The Uchiha's are claiming that a portion of our land is theirs. It is ludicrous, it has been Hyuuga land for quite some time, we have the documentation to prove it. In fact, we have a peace treaty that was signed some forty years ago that says that an even larger portion of their land belongs to us. This is why I would like to refute their argument, but also claim this additional land."

Fugaku stood up angrily while attempting to address Sakura and Hiashi at the same time, "Lies, he has a piece of paper with no official seal on it. Anyone could have forged it. That land is ours, we won it years ago over our past disputes with you. If anything, you owe us the Rushin pasture."

Hiashi glared, "That is a sacred training ground for the Hyuuga clan heads, you will not touch it."

Sakura rubbed her temples, knowing that she could interrupt but it would get her know where. It was better to let them fight this out. So while they were occupied she turned to Ino. Ino smirked and relayed the information she had learned. Apparently Tsume was more than displeased that the Uchiha were trying to take a portion of their land. So much so that she had already formed an unofficial alliance with the Hyuuga's. The Nara clan was in the same boat, since the Hyuuga's were cutting into their fields where the deer they raised traveled. The Uchiha's had promised them their land and another four acres for their support.

Interesting.

"You need to learn your manners Uchiha, it is not polite to take what is not yours," spat Hiashi.

Fukaku's sharingon activated in the most threatening manner he could create. Despite their somewhat peaceful display at the Uchiha house earlier that week both were more than willing to openly declare war on each other, "My manners? We in the Uchiha clan are taught to respect our superiors, obviously that lesson in passed over in your clan."

And here was the point that Itachi thought she would fail at. She would look like a total idiot if she couldn't get these supposedly respectable clan leaders to cooperate. Under normal circumstances Tsunade would finally come to some type of middle ground while pretending to give a damn about what they said.

Sakura never was one for lying through her teeth, "Do I need to get a babysitter?"

Both clan leaders turned towards her in disbelief. Fugaku nearly attacked her in a rage, "Excuse me? What just came out of your insolent little mouth?"

Sakura glared, "I asked if I needed to get a babysitter you over grown toddlers. You are grown men bickering like children."

Sakura walked over to the Hyuuga table and gave a purposefully dissatisfied look at Hiashi, "I have known you for years which is why I chose you to speak first. I figured that the self-confident, lawful and rational Hiashi Hyuuga that I have known since childhood would be able to show some semblance of rationality in this argument but I was apparently wrong. You were as bad as he was."

Sakura turned back towards her podium, "Honestly, what is with clans these days? All of you are acting like there is some huge war going on. Inuzuka making deals with the Hyuuga, money for support. Uchiha's promising land to the Nara's if they side with them," she turned to the four clan heads who all looked blindsided. Apparently, she wasn't supposed to know about those deals.

Well they should really keep their thoughts to themselves if they didn't want her to know, that was her opinion on the matter.

"Well if all of you are determined to squabble like this then I am just going to have to fix it," she reached over and pulled out all the files and papers that Shizune had managed to gather for her. Some of them were birth records, some were old ninja rosters. It didn't really matter, she looked intimidating, like she had searched through records for months in order to gain the proper information. The stack looked threatening and she had exactly what she needed in order to succeed. "How about we just go back to how it originally was? You know, back in the old days before all these questionable or fake treaties, all the battles and all the scheming. The Hyuuga's will go back to their original estate on the north side. I believe it was originally 7.3 acres to your current 250. And you will of course have your old neighbors the Uchiha's. They will give up their land to the Hokage, as originally agreed upon and move from their 297 acres to their former 15.2. The Inuzuka and Nara clan will of course have to move seeing as at the time they lived in town, no land to speak of."

Hiashi stepped forwards in disbelief, "Sakura…"

Sakura put down the paper she was reading from and looked around the room, "Or you all can be big boys and girls and work this out."

Hiashi looked towards his advisors and sighed, "We will agree to our current land holdings from this point on."

Sakura smiled and looked at the other three clans, "Agreed?"

Tsume nodded, as did Yoshino of the Nara clan. Sakura looked towards Fugaku who looked absolutely livid. She continued to stare him down. It was only after a few minutes of death defying silence that he caved. "We agree as well."

Sakura clapped her hands together happily, "I will have Shizune draw up the papers immediately. After this meeting all past contracts will be null and void, you will stay with the land you have right now unless there are legitimate changes in the future. You are dismissed."

As soon as she finished Hiashi was by her side, "Please accept my apology Sakura, you were right, I was acting more than childish."

Sakura couldn't help but smirk. Ever since about two years ago Hiashi seemed particularly keen on gaining her approval. She had no idea why but Sakura doubted he would be apologizing to Tsunade even if she had said the same thing.

"It is okay, I know who you are. My opinion of you has not changed." This was of course because she already thought of him as a giant tool but he didn't need to know that.

Hiashi gave a slight nod of his head and summoned his daughters to follow him out of the room.

Sakura looked up just in time to see four Uchiha heads heading out of the council room. She frowned momentarily but decided it wasn't worth it to chase after him. No, it was better to leave him alone right now. While she had won their little battle, she still felt like she had lost. The man was testing her, he wanted to see if she could keep up in future encounters.

So by winning, she had effectively lost.

* * *

Sasuke quickly activated his Sharingon as he dodged an attack from Naruto. They had been training for hours and were tired beyond belief. You knew it was bad when both were using their last resort techniques. He huffed, "I am just saying, Sakura kicked my dad's ass."

Naruto smirked, "Well you know Sakura, she doesn't take crap from anyone. I'm surprised she took the case though, she always hated anything to do with politics."

Sasuke dodged three kunai while jumping behind a tree. Before he knew it the tree all but exploded as his best friend came charging through it. He then flipped backwards as he predicted Naruto's next hit. While grabbing the blonde's wrist he flipped him on his back and pressed a blade to his throat. The two panted as Naruto tapped out.

They pushed themselves off the ground and tried to stand, but immediately plopped back down onto the ground because of their fatigue. They were so tired in fact, that neither of them felt the approaching figure.

"Hello little brother."

Sasuke immediately turned to face his older brother, even with his fatigue wearing him down, but did not dare stand for fear of falling over in front of him. "Yes?"

"Father wishes to speak with you about the girl who led the trial. You were old teammates with her were you not," asked Itachi.

Sasuke flipped back over on his side, "Yeah, but we never go on missions together anymore. I don't see her very often."

Itachi's eyes crinkled just slightly, "You are going to have to lie better than that against father. He is already mad enough."

"Damn," Sasuke swore loudly. He was frustrated that Itachi had seen through his outright lie so quickly, even more so that he was now going to have to think of a better one against his father. The truth was that he didn't go on missions with the pink haired woman, not since the split. He did on the other hand see her on a constant basis and was more than capable of answering any questions his father had about her. He pushed Naruto over and tried to leave, "Last place, I got to go. See you tomorrow at dinner. Try not to die on the way there; I still need to finish kicking your ass."

Naruto ignored the jab, he was much too tired, and waved absentmindedly. Sasuke on the other hand stood ungracefully and walked back towards the main house, intent on finding a good lie to feed his father. I mean, did she have to be so good at pissing people off? She couldn't make it easy on him. Sometimes she was so damn annoying his head hurt.

Sasuke was in the middle of opening the door to the living room when it shut rather loudly without his consent. He slowly looked up to his older brother who was standing beside him, and more importantly holding the door closed, "So dinner tomorrow?" Itachi was referring to the parting comment to Naruto, something Sasuke hadn't even picked up on.

Sasuke glared, "I always head over to Sakura's for dinner."

He tried to re-open the door but Itachi continued to keep it closed, with seemingly minimal effort much to Sasuke's embarrassment, "She cooks? She did not strike me as they type who could. Either she surpasses our own mother in culinary skills or maybe you two are something more?"

Sasuke gave a full on scowl, "Or maybe my own family drives me crazy." This time he actually tried to move the door, he put in as much force as he could muster but the stupid thing didn't budge. Itachi was too strong for him. Sasuke blamed it on his previous workout with Naruto.

"When did she learn how to cook?" he asked randomly, or at least it was random to Sasuke. One never knew what was going on in his brother's head.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I don't know, cooking classes? I never bothered to ask. I honestly don't care where she learned it, just as long as it tastes good."

"Itachi! Sasuke!"

Both men perked up at the sound of their father's voice calling them. Itachi immediately let go of the door and Sasuke pushed it open. Both men entered the room, Itachi heading in last. Though instead of sitting down next to his younger brother Itachi remained in a standing position, leaning up against the nearest wall.

Sasuke quickly sat down across from his father and mother, both of which who were looking at him intently, but for very different reasons.

"The girl who led the trial, she was your former teammate was she not Sasuke?" asked Fugaku.

Sasuke bowed his head, "Yes father, that was her. Though, we have not been teammates for some time now, not since the ruling anyways."

Fugaku nodded, "I have heard a rumor that she is not fond of our clan. Can you confirm this for me?"

"It is true, we are not her favorite clan. I believe this has more to do with a past experience though, than with any real deep seated hatred," answered Sasuke formally. Anything above the upmost respect with Fugaku Uchiha and a beating was in order. It didn't matter how old or how skilled, he would do it himself or have his most trusted men teach you about respect. Sasuke, though annoyed with his father, was not dumb enough to once again test his father's limits.

"Do you think this influenced her ruling?"

Sasuke suppressed his scowl. They were all there for the hearing, she was beyond fair in her judgment. How could his father not see this? Was he that blinded by his own status? He thought no one could stand up to him in a legitimate manner? "No father, I felt she ruled fairly. If you do not believe me ask the Hyuuga's. She has known them for years and they were not granted any more favor than we were."

"I have looked into this young woman further; she is a very promising figure in the Leaf Village. Her alliance could be worth something to us," reasoned Fugaku.

Sasuke actually scoffed; something he had never before done in front of his father. Such a remark was usually frowned upon, a mark of insubordination, but it honestly could not be helped. Was he truly the only person in that room? Did his family not realize she was not a woman to be played with?

As he contemplated his family scrutinized Sasuke's behavior. Both his father's and mother's eyes widened considerably at his blatant mockery, "Is there something you wish to express Sasuke?" asked his father harshly.

Sasuke quickly caught onto his mistake and tried to apologize, "Sorry father, it is just, Sakura hates anything political. She only befriends who she wants and no one else. If you come at her with a political agenda, she'll drop any affiliation with you immediately. She is like Kakashi that way."

Fugaku frowned, "Yes, I had heard that she was his daughter. Is she like him at all?"

Sasuke smirked, his father's jealousy was showing. "Yes and no. She is never late for anything, a habit she might have picked up from him. She finds it incredibly irritating and refuses to do it to anyone else. At the same time, just like Kakashi she forgets to take care of herself whenever she gets too caught up in work. We often have to bring her food because she gets so busy that she forgets to eat, or we have to walk her home because she overworks herself to the point of exhaustion. Though, I don't know why the hospital works her that hard, she's just a Chunnin."

Fugaku's eyes lit up, "You did not know? She didn't tell you?"

Sasuke immediately looked confused, "Tell me what?"

No one saw Itachi lean in just an inch or two further.

Fugaku sat back just slightly, "Sakura made Jounin when she was fifteen, shortly after your team was disbanded. She is also the head of the medical ward, and at such an astounding age. Sasuke, she is the lead doctor there, world renound. She has requests for her services across the nation. According to my sources the only known medic to have more skill or knowledge than her is Tsunade herself and if you follow the rumors, that gap is closing fast."

Sasuke's mouth could have dropped to the floor. She was _that_ good? Since when? Why hadn't she told anyone? Could she beat him and Naruto? No, no possible way. They had only been Jounin for a year now but there was no way Sakura could beat them. The female entrance exams were just easier, that was it. There was no way she was stronger than him.

"Now you see my desire to have her loyalty to the Uchiha clan. She is a powerful asset that I want at my disposal. If she is this powerful at such a young age, imagine what she could do for us in the future. I do not like it that Hiashi has such a head start with Hinata, but we have our own weapon. I want you to invite her over for dinner, make sure she attends tomorrow night," finished Fugaku.

This time Itachi was the one who cut into the conversation, "That will be impossible father. She is having dinner with her Genin teammates tomorrow. Sasuke just informed me of this a minute or two ago. She will be unavailable for the evening."

Mikoto turned towards her youngest son, "I thought you were training tomorrow?"

Sasuke suppressed the blush quickly creeping up on his face. Trust his brother to out him like that, "Last minute change, she practically begged me to come over. She's annoying like that...and needy. Yeah, really needy."

Fugaku growled, "All of the former team will eat here tomorrow then. The servants will set extra place settings."

Itachi again cut in, "Including Hatake? He will be in attendance too father, and I doubt he will appreciate you using his daughter for your personal gain."

Fugaku glared at the wall his son was standing against while contemplating what to say. Itachi was of course right. Hakate and him had a history and Fugaku doubted the man would allow him to manipulate his daughter, especially directly in front of him. At this moment, Fugaku only had one option available to him, "Go to your dinner Sasuke, I will deliberate on the matter further."

Fugaku stood and headed out the door, his wife right behind him. They had much to discuss.

Sasuke immediately turned towards his brother when his parents were out of hearing range, "You were unusually helpful just now. What are you planning?"

Itachi pushed himself off the wall without giving his brother a second glance, "Is it a crime to protect my little brother and his friend? No point in subjecting her to father if she does not have to be."

Sasuke continued to look at him suspiciously, so to ease his thoughts, Itachi gave Sasuke some further insight into his mind, "It is a well known fact that Uchiha's do not like to share Sasuke, no matter how menial the possession. I was just preventing any further unnecessary conflict."

After a few seconds of deliberation Sasuke decided to take his brother's word for it. The statement was true after all. So he accepted the argument without any real question, not realizing that Itachi was talking about himself, not Sasuke.

* * *

Sakura glared at the wall in front of her. She could not decide what to do. Itachi had made it clear, that had been a challenge. But the question was, would there be more? Was it just a quick reminder of old times? Sure, he was still an arrogant ass but he really did have responsibilities now. He would not jeopardize that just to annoy her. It could have been one last one, he could be done. If she retaliated it wouldn't be though. If she acted out, there would be no stopping it. He wouldn't just go back to ignoring her, not if she did something back.

This left her with two options. She could do nothing and hope for the best. The best being he stopped, the worst being her unprepared for the latest threat. Or she could go with option two, and she could retaliate. She would be re-instigating a fight she had long deemed over. Everything in her life would be fair game to him.

Sakura quickly jumped off her chair and headed towards the kitchen. She had decided; she would not engage this particular opponent. On the off chance that she could get a 'get out of jail free' card, she was going to take it.

Sakura, not one to be stupid, hurriedly grabbed her cell phone and dialed the 'oh so' familiar number. Ino quickly picked up and squealed in delight.

Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't be prepared to fight back if the occasion should occur. Like Kakashi is always saying at least half the time they spoke, expect the unexpected. The other half the time he was spouting something about see what lies underneath. Well Itachi was going to have to choose. Take her at face value and go to war, or see underneath the pink hair and realize she isn't a little kid anymore.

* * *

_Sakura happily finished her dinner while swinging her feet. Her room was nice and clean, they even got fresh sheets and everything! Hers were no longer itchy and it made her super excited to go to bed. She briefly looked over at Tenten who was eating right next to her. "Our beds are going to be so warm!"_

_Tenten smiled while stuffing her face full of another bowl of soup, "Thanks for letting me stay here."_

_Sakura laughed like it was no big deal. She laughed like she owned the place, which in her little mind, she might have, "Your Uncle is mean, of course you stay with me instead."_

_Tenten and Sakura quickly grabbed their plates and hurried over to the sink. Sakura grabbed the nearest stool and jumped up on it in order to properly clean her dish. When she was done rinsing Tenten quickly handed in her own as Sakura scrubbed. When the two were done both quickly, while giggling, headed up towards their bed. When they reached it one of the other girls was sitting in her bed, reading her book, and another was sleeping._

_Sakura whispered to Tenten, "You can stay with me tonight, so my bed will be nice and warm with us together."_

_Sakura quickly headed over towards her single drawer and pulled out an oversized long sleeved shirt. Tenten was already getting into the covers when she heard Sakura scream. Everyone turned to see what the problem was when Sakura turned around, tears pouring down her cheeks._

_Tenten was immediately by her side, determined to help her friend. "What is it?"_

_Sakura's eye's became even more bloodshot as she pointed towards her drawer. Tenten peaked over the wooden barrier and gasped._

_Bunny was missing._

* * *

**Firevixen73**- I love that he picks on her. I find it incredibly amusing actually, its one of my favorite parts to wright. Of course, he was particularly mean to her in this chapter but hey, aren't most little boys? Tell me what you think! I know it was a little shorter than normal but I thought it was an appropriate place to stop. And isn't everyone so proud of me for getting another chapter up so quickly? Hope to hear from you and thanks for reading.


	6. Still a Possesive Little Boy

_There was nothing greater than the feeling of freedom, of that she was sure. So, it was with great joy that Sakura pumped her feet harder while riding the swing. She was going to get as high as she could and then jump off, just like all the big kids did. They always looked so happy when they did it; she just wanted to be that happy too._

_So with each peddle Sakura tried to get higher and higher. Finally she reached as high as she could go, where she came out of her seat a little bit, and prepared for her take off. Unfortunately the swing was much too high and she was way to light, so instead of going straight like she had anticipated Sakura felt the metal chain swivel to the left moments before she let go. With terror in her eyes Sakura flew towards the metal bar she hadn't planned on hitting. She closed her eyes in pure terror as she tried to let out a scream. She was going too fast, the bar would all but slice her in half. Then there was no body outside right now, so she was going to be all on her own after getting hurt. Sakura was not even close to being ready for the impact when warm hands suddenly embraced her. When she could no longer feel the air rushing past her face at what felt to her small body like lightning speed Sakura creaked open an eye._

_Green met midnight black, the nearly black color frightened her._

"_Were you trying to kill yourself? What are you, an idiot?"_

_Sakura sniffled not particularly carrying who was holding her. The voice sounded familiar but she was in no state of mind to place it. Instead she snuggled closer towards the warm body and tried to hold back her tears of fright, a task she was not succeeding at. Instead of appearing strong like she wanted the little girl completely broke down into a fit of tears. She couldn't help it as all her emotions came tumbling out. Sure she had been scared, but she also was terrified of being alone. She was alone all the time, the only one that never left was Bunny and he was gone too._

_The boy holding her sighed as he recognized her state of shock. Instead of dropping her in the middle of the snow like he had originally planned he grabbed his jacket from his shoulders and wrapped it around her body. She was small and shivering, that was never a good combination. "Lets get you home."_

_Sakura just nodded and buried herself deeper._

_Together they made it towards the orphanage, the familiar front gate creaking loudly as they passed it. The boy, with the girl still securely in his arms, walked through the snow covered grass and towards the front door. He knocked with his foot, since his arms were occupied at the moment, until another boy opened the door. He looked about eight or so, perhaps older. Briefly a look of shock passed his face, he obviously did not know what to think._

"_Itachi Uchiha?" he asked in amazement._

_The wind continued to howl around the two figures standing outside. Itachi nodded towards the boy in answer and then back at the small girl now completely asleep in his hands, "She's asleep, I'll take her to her room."_

_The boy, wide eyed and jaw open like a kid with ice cream, quickly opened the door and ushered the two inside. It was much colder out than it had been since the sun had just set and he didn't want to let it get out that he had made Itachi Uchiha stand out in the cold without a coat. When the boy saw the familiar patch of pink hair he couldn't hold back his scowl. For some reason it never crossed his mind that Itachi was holding her for a reason, "She was doing something stupid again wasn't she?"_

_Itachi who was not much older than the boy in front of him could barely contain his anger. Sakura was his to pick on, not this stupid kid's. He is not allowed to say anything about her, it went against his rules._

"_She is always doing strange things like that. She's really weird," reasoned the boy as he pointed towards the stairs leading upwards. He then looked at Itachi happily, "I can show you her-"_

_Itachi wouldn't stand for it, "I know where her room is."_

_The boy tried to cut in, determined to spend more time with the legendary boy progeny, "You shouldn't carry her, I can do that. I should probably-"_

_The rude boy immediately felt blinding pain when he tried to take Sakura from Itachi's grasp. He looked down to see his arm was twisted backwards, his elbow bent in all the wrong ways. Surprisingly it didn't hurt nearly as much anymore but he had the strangest suspicion that if Itachi removed the finger that was pressing down on an artery near his wrist that the pain would be immense. Itachi, for his own part was extremely pleased that the boy seemed to know basic anatomy. Even in his stupid state the boy knew that Itachi was cutting off the building pressure not because he was nice, but because everyone deserved a fair warning._

"_Don't touch her, she's mine," the small black haired boy that was Itachi growled._

_The orphan in front of him whimpered slightly as Itachi released the hold, effectively causing some severe pain through his release. The boy immediately cradled his arm and nodded, deciding that maybe he should back off. He didn't know what the small pinket had done to warrant the Uchiha's protection but he was not getting in the middle of that._

_Itachi quickly resituated Sakura back in her previous position and off of his shoulder, so he could place the idiot who dared tried to take her from him in his respective place. Finally, the two made it upstairs and Itachi turned towards what he knew was Sakura's room. He was only mildly surprised to see an older girl sitting on a nearby bed as she read a book. He of course dismissed it, the girl wasn't anything to him and was unworthy of his attention._

_It was only with Itachi's entrance, and blatant disregard for her, that she looked up from her reading. The fifteen year old was about to demand to know what a boy of all things was doing in the girls rooms when she saw the pink haired mass. Carefully she placed the book down and walked over, "Is she okay?"_

_Itachi nodded and carefully laid her down on the bunk bed, "She was scared."_

_The girl shook her head. While she wasn't particularly close with any of the other children she did feel for Sakura. The pink haired girl was ahead of her peers when it came to brain power and it isolated her from many of the other children. She was easily picked on and ridiculed on a daily basis. "I'll get her a blanket."_

_Itachi grabbed her arm to stop her where she stood, "She has my coat she is fine."_

_The girl looked down at Sakura, then at the Uchiha emblem. She wasn't an idiot, nor was she deaf; she had heard Sakura and Tenten talk about 'the mean boy' also named Uchiha. She could only guess that this was the same person. It was strange though, to see him trying to care for her like he was. Perhaps the Uchiha didn't hate Sakura quite as much as he led on, "You know, back before my parents died my dad loved having my mom wear her stuff. It was how he told her that he loved her. He also used to laugh and say it kept all the other men from going after her, like a branding or something."_

_Itachi's face scrunched up but he didn't say a word._

_The girl, seeing an opening to possibly help the pink haired miscreant continued on, "He also used to say that boys are really mean to girls that they like. It was why I always came home with the worst stories from school."_

_He didn't immediately answer but instead seemed to be thinking things through in his mind. She could only guess he was finding a reason why that situation did not apply to him, as most boys do. Finally, after a few tense seconds of silence he spoke. "Then the boy downstairs is rather fond of Sakura," reasoned Itachi. The girl on the other hand noticed what he did not, that his hands were tightening into fists and how his eyes flickered red every so often. She was right, Itachi did like the cute little girl sleeping before them. Now the only question was whether he knew that or not._

_Suddenly Itachi turned towards the door and began walking down the stairs. The teenager, seeing that he was leaving attempted to catch his attention, "You want your coat? It's still cold out."_

_Itachi didn't even hesitate, "I'll get it in the morning."_

* * *

Sakura happily walked the hallways of the familiar hospital. Today was turning out to be a rather good day. One of the other doctors had agreed to take her late shift, so she would hopefully be home by ten. She did not have to work tomorrow either, well, in the morning anyways, which meant she was getting to make up her very much missed morning off. With how things were working out, it was amazing something hadn't gone seriously wrong yet.

"Doctor?" spoke a timid voice from the left.

Sakura slowly turned around and smiled at the nurse standing before her, "Can I help you with something Enko?"

"…Umm, it is a patient. She came in about twenty minutes ago for an unscheduled physical and is refusing to see anyone other than you."

Sakura frowned, "We have plenty of doctors here, and I rarely do routine checkups with patients anymore. Isn't there someone else?"

"That is not the strange thing, its well, she's an Uchiha and from what I can tell, a rather powerful one. I have never seen such an expensive kimono before. The clips in her hair are real jade as well, not to mention her speech, I feel like I am talking to someone well, royal. So when she demanded you, it was like I couldn't refuse her. And trust me Sakura, I have plenty of practice with irate patients."

Sakura visibly frowned, "The Uchiha higher ups have their own personalized doctors, ones from their own clan. The woman is probably just trying to intimidate you, if I had to guess, the kimono isn't even hers. Did she say why she would come here?"

Enko shook her head 'no'.

Sakura sighed, "Alright, does she have a chart?"

"No, she refused to fill one out, said that she would only talk to you."

Sakura reached over and grabbed an empty chart from the nearby nurses' station, "Alright, what's the room?"

Enko smiled, glad to have the difficult patient off of her hands, "Room E652."

Sakura quickly wrote down the room at the top of the page and headed over to the elevator. With a wave goodbye to the nurse she headed for the sixth floor. Perhaps it would be quick and she would still be able to clock out relatively early. It looked like the woman was probably embarrassed about something menial and refused to even give the nurses a chance to gossip about it.

The doors dinged and she stepped onto the familiar white floors. After quickly stopping in to check with a few other of her patients, and to see if any of the other nurses needed help, Sakura strutted into E652, only to immediately stop in her tracks in disbelief, "Lady Mikoto?"

The woman turned from the window and smiled at the pink haired woman. The Uchiha matriarch was done up just how Enko described her, rich, royal and not a hair out of place. Sakura suddenly felt very self conscious of her own hair. Was it still in its ringlets from this morning? God, she probably had blood on her from sometime during the day. Patients did have a tendency to bleed on her frequently.

"Oh, you know who I am. I was afraid that you would not remember me from our impromptu meeting at the lake," the woman smiled and sat down on the nearby examination table.

"…You are a little hard to forget. Is there something I can do for you?" tried Sakura as she attempted to gather her thoughts. Sakura did not mention that she remembered the older woman more from her childhood experiences with Itachi rather than from anything recent that may have transpired.

"Yes, I would like a checkup if you could," said the woman happily.

"A checkup?" reasoned Sakura. Her entire day had been thrown out of wack in just a few minutes, and she wanted to know why. And by out of wack, she did not just mean the random patient drop in, no, she meant that the freaking Uchiha matriarch was standing right in front of her. "Excuse my forwardness Lady Mikoto, but you have some of the best doctors that work for you on the Uchiha compound. They have an extensive medical history of you and everyone in your family lineage, they are already paid for and are more than capable of doing a routine checkup. Is there a reason you are not seeking out them?"

Mikoto looked towards the ground, "Yes actually there is. You see, while my husband my employ some of the best doctors in the village, they are just that, _his_ employees. Anything they find will be reported to him directly and there are some things even I would like to keep private. I trust you will show discretion, even with your own comrades."

Sakura's mind was buzzing a million miles a minute. Normally when she heard speeches like this it was because one spouse was cheating on another, but she highly doubted that Mikoto would ever do something like that. In fact, Sakura was fairly certain that Mikoto would never do anything to potentially damage her husband's reputation, even if it meant destroying her own chances of happiness. It was just the woman's personality.

"Is there something you wish to tell me?" asked Sakura slowly.

Mikoto turned back towards the window and did not answer.

Sakura quickly swore up and down that the Uchiha's were going to be the death of her. Would she never get a break from their madness? "Mikoto, I promise as your doctor that whatever we talk about will not leave this room. The only other person who would ever potentially hear about it would be my mentor, Lady Tsunade and even that would only be for medical consolation. I assure you that your name would be left out for however long you wish it."

Mikoto quickly pulled something out of her pocket but turned before Sakura could see it, "A few nights ago my family was discussing your amazing progress in the medical field. Although our talk had little to do with what I am going to ask of you, it had me thinking. You have been such a good friend to my son Sasuke, and you are the daughter of one of my closest friends, Kakashi, so I thought, maybe I could trust you with this. No one else knows, not my husband, not my sons, not the elders, so you can imagine the courage it took me to come here."

Mikoto looked down at the object in her hands and Sakura saw the woman's shoulders tense. Slowly, so as not to frighten the woman, Sakura walked up to her. Right now she was not the dignified Lady Mikoto Uchiha, wife to Fugaku Uchiha. She was not the perfect hostess, the woman who was breed since birth to do everything faultlessly. Right now she was a scared everyday woman that Sakura felt a fire to help.

It was why when she finally pulled Mikoto's hand away that Sakura gasped.

In the black haired woman's grasp was a white dishtowel covered in bright spots of blood.

Sakura turned towards Mikoto, "What happened?"

Mikoto looked towards the sunset, "I coughed."

* * *

Tenten was in no mood to deal with a bigoted group of men who thought that just because they had a natural 'sword' attached to their lower abdomen that they obviously had more finesse and skill with a real blade. So it was when freaking Sasuke, Lord Fugaku and of all people Itachi, stepped through her door that she knew she was in for a roller coaster ride.

It had started when the bell attached to the front door jiggled. She had immediately come from the back room in order to welcome her guests, only to stop dead in her tracts.

"Crap," she muttered dejectedly. Perhaps Sakura wasn't as paranoid as Tenten had originally believed. Maybe the man really was out to get her, I mean, Tenten's shop was on the opposite side of town than the Uchiha grounds. She was also a small local business that very few truly knew about. Contrary to popular belief Tenten did not supply everyone that came through her doors. She was actually very selective. In fact, most of her clientele were women or were friends with Sakura in Anbu.

"Well isn't this place…quaint," said Fugaku while scanning the walls. Surrounding them were actually only a few weapons, ones that were worn out, scrapped and basically useless. There were also depictions of famous battle scenes hanging next to the weapons up on the walls.

With a deep breath, and a clear understanding that Sakura was correcting in cursing everything Uchiha, she faked a smile and walked over towards the three men, "Hello, can I help you find something Lord Fugaku?"

The man turned his attention to her, "It depends on if you actually carry weapons here. All I see are relics."

Tenten's forehead seemed to grow a pulsing tick, but she ignored it, "I keep my weapons in the back. My regulars are quiet aware of the quality I will give them so it is not usually a problem. Though, in the cases' next to the walls are a few weapons of mine. I do not keep too many out in the open though, since I am often in the back forging when I am not on a mission."

Fugaku glanced around the area one more time before making eye contact with the brown haired girl, "Yes well, I am actually here because my son Sasuke tells me that he often see's you with Sakura. I can assume that to mean the two of you are friends?"

It took everything in her arsenal not to glare at Sasuke then and there. This was his fault? It was bad enough that she'd had to face the Hyuuga's on a daily basis back when she was on a team with Neji, but now the Uchiha's as well? "Yes, Sakura and I are friends. I knew her back when she was in the orphanage."

Fugaku's eye brows rose, "She attended and orphanage? I did not see anything like that in her file?"

Tenten contemplated glaring but knew the Uchiha was a powerful man. If he wished it, her shop would be closed by the end of the week, "It was civilian and all but irrelevant to Sakura's current ninja lifestyle. Your wife would visit occasionally and bring clothes, perhaps she could give you a better description than I can. I was just a child after all."

Fugaku nodded, "She grew up there?"

Tenten shook her head 'no'. "When she was about seven or eight she was sent to live with Tsunade, after her skill in medicine and chakra control was discovered. She came back about a week before the genin exam and joined Kakashi's team shortly after."

Fugaku nodded, "It seems that she had many surprises in her life. I take it that she was not aware about her connection with Hatake?"

Tentan glanced at the door leading to her freedom. Was there a reason the man was asking so many questions? Couldn't he just look at her file? Or ask one of his sons? Unless of course…Tenten suddenly realized the situation. They didn't know, the Uchiha clan didn't know about Sakura and Itachi's history with each other. So then why was Itachi going to such great lengths to keep it a secret? Sasuke she understood, he was in no position to stand up to the elders if they demanded something of him, Itachi on the other hand held most of the clans power in his palm. "No, she didn't know. I doubt that others would have treated her as they did if anyone had even an ounce of a clue."

Fukagu's interests was officially perked, "People did not treat her kindly?"

Tenten shook her head while glancing at Itachi who calmly stood behind his father, "She had her fair share of bullies some of which she lived with, some of which she didn't. It's not easy being different so she was often a target of cruel pranks. If memory serves, there was one particular Uchiha that seemed intent on ruining her life."

Suddenly there was a large crashing sound to her right. Tenten's head immediately turned towards the direction of the sound as she saw that the casing with a select few of her weapons had been titled over. Her initial reaction was to turn back towards Itachi but he was standing in the same position she had watched him in earlier. He held the same intense stare and she couldn't help the shiver running up her spine as Itachi spoke, "It seems the legs gave out, perhaps it is time to replace a few of your old relics. Who knows what further damage they could bring you."

Tenten recognized a threat when she heard one.

* * *

Sakura was finally on her way home, a surprisingly stressful day since Mikoto's arrival. They had done about a dozen tests, all under a fake name of course. It was a unanimous decision that word of Mikoto's possible illness should probably stay with them. While Mikoto wanted it for social reasons, Sakura wanted it for medical. The pressure of having to deal with everyone's comments and concerns before Mikoto was ready could aggravate the situation even more. This did not mean Sakura was advocating Mikoto's desire to keep it from her immediate family. She had actually debated with Mikoto about it for a good ten minutes before realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere. That was how she had left the hospital not twenty minutes ago. So, it was with a half smile on her face that she turned towards the road when Hinata called out her name. She maneuvered her worn body just in time to see said woman running up the street, an overnight bag in hand. Hinata quickly ran up the flights of stairs until she was standing next to Sakura in her doorway.

"Family night?" asked Sakura.

Hinata nodded, "He wants to discuss the Clan's future plans."

Sakura tiredly placed her hand on the door and released a strong flow of her chakra, effectively disabling all of her traps against intruders. She then put the key in the door before stepping into her apartment. Together they headed over towards her kitchen. Sakura, more than used to having her friend spend the night, grabbed Hinata's bag and hauled it over towards the guest room. Of course guest room really wasn't the right term, she should really just call it Hinata's room. Sakura was a firm believer in always having a place that you felt safe and she was more than happy to give Hinata that comfort.

"Mind putting in a bagel for me?" she yelled while walking towards her own dark room. There was no use turning on the light, she had memorized where everything was long ago.

Hinata who was already on Sakura's familiar request quickly opened the refrigerator for cream cheese. Much to the Hyuuga's surprise there was a note taped to the inside of the door, a note clearly written in a man's handwriting. She almost immediately picked it up, determined to recognize the hand writing but it did not look familiar much to her confusion. Hinata and Sakura knew almost all the same people, having been on the same Anbu squad and virtually the same age, which is why the writing came as such a surprise. The man would have had to of been someone Sakura trusted, for him to enter into the pink haired woman's house without activating the alarms. He would have most definitely been introduced if he was that familiar with her, so why wasn't it ringing any bells? The words were written beautifully, the handwriting just screamed 'lessons'.

_Bread is not a meal, eat the steak._

Personally Hinata agreed. Sakura was horrible when it came to taking care of herself, a fact that was true among most doctors but she knew better than to press the issue. Sakura would never endanger her body intentionally, but in her mind other people's needs came before Sakura's wants. Hinata then looked further into the cold contraption to see a large steak surrounded by green beans and potatoes sitting in a take-out box. Again Hinata looked around the room, determined to find any clues that she could. She was unfortunately left with none.

"That son-of-a-bitch!" yelled Sakura from her room.

Hinata, desperate to figure out what could lead her friend to use such fowl language, booked it towards her best friend's room completely abandoning the food set out. The sight that greeted her couldn't have been more shocking. In the middle of the floor sat Sakura in nothing but her underwear and what looked to be an oversized shirt. What was beyond strange was the Uchiha symbol engraved on the front of it. While that was slightly unusual, knowing the pink haired ninja's distain for the Uchiha clan, Sakura was known for stealing her teammates clothing so it was no surprise. "What-"

Sakura pointed towards her bed, and more importantly the large black comforter that covered it. Now that was strange in itself considering that Sakura's bed was made up of different shades of green, so Hinata decided to investigate. When she got closer she finally noticed the large Uchiha emblem engraved into the black comforter. When she turned around to ask what had happened Hinata once again bit her tongue. Instead of the familiar paintings, that usually complimented Sakura's choice in color scheme, there were very different decorations. Her walls were completely decked out with various Uchiha symbols and historical pictures.

Itachi had apparently redecorated.

Hinata turned back towards her friend in an attempt to explain that this actually wasn't all that bad. Unfortunately she was met with Sakura's hand pointing towards her closet and drawers. Hinata once again left to investigate. One by one she pulled out piles of neatly stacked clothing only to find that everything had been replaced with menswear. What's more, everything that had been replaced with men's clothing had the Uchiha symbol on it.

She quickly turned towards the closet and started to pull out clothes from their hangers only to find herself in the same predicament. Finally she turned towards Sakura, remorse etched on her face. "Did he leave you anything?"

Sakura quickly ran over towards her underwear drawer and pulled out a handful of briefs. She then effectively flung them up in the air in her rage.

"I'll kill him!"

Itachi, at the same time that Sakura found herself screaming, was sitting at the dinner table eating a few left over's from the night before when the three genin that he was supervising stepped into the room. "Master Uchiha, what would you like us to do with these bags?"

In each of their hands rested a black garbage bag filled to the rim with Sakura's various possessions. Itachi, knowing that Sakura was more than likely cursing him to the bottom pits of hell at this very moment just smiled, "They are insignificant, practice your jutsu on them."

All three bowed and quickly headed out the door. Two of them had been in the fire mishap at the school so they were more than ready to figure out how to use the technique properly.

Itachi, to his own credit calmly finished with his food and placed his dishes in the kitchen sink knowing that they would be taken care of in the morning. It was more than enough to surprise him to see his mother walk into the kitchen as he attempted to walk out, "Mother it is late, why are you up?"

Mikoto just looked at her son and smiled, "I had a cough and wanted to get some water. Is it a crime to be out of bed?"

Itachi smiled, something that he usually reserved for her alone, "No mother."

He then did the gentlemanly thing and quickly poured his aging mother a cool glass of water. Much to his surprise Mikoto had turned towards the cabinet to grab a spoon and a jar of honey. After taking a sip of water she poured the honey in the spoon and ate it. In an instant he all but yanked the object out of her mouth, "Mother, since when do you eat sweets past 8 o'clock? Let alone a spoon full of honey?"

"…The doctor said that it should calm my throat for the night if ever I have a bad cough," Mikoto then grabbed the spoon from her son and began washing the dishes, obviously intent on ending the conversation.

Instead of letting the matter rest his brain quickly processed what Mikoto had let slip. His brain had been one of the leading tactical forces in the Leaf village and it was more than ready to over analyze anything his mother may have said. Doctor? When had she visited the family doctor? Had he stopped by? Or did she go to him? Did his father know? "You spoke to Dr. Yamino?"

Mikoto nodded as she placed the dishes in the drying rack. "I just had a quick question about this tickle in my throat, I promise nothing is wrong."

Mikoto turned towards him and placed a quick peck on his cheek like she did every night before bed, "Sweet dreams, I will see you in the morning."

Itachi was left with nothing more than a bottle of honey in his hands and an aching feeling in his gut that something was wrong.

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, Naruto was not an idiot. He realized when something was wrong, he knew what limits were. It was with this astute ability to know people that Naruto felt that something was off.

"Sakura, are you okay?" he tried.

Sakura, much to her own dissatisfaction, was letting her anger show. She had hoped that by some miracle she would be able to keep her rage in check, that she wouldn't be giving that bastard the satisfaction of seeing her reaction. But of course nothing in her life was so cut and dry. Honestly, even Naruto could tell something was wrong. That in itself was a bad sign when it came to emotional control.

Even so, it would probably be a hell of a lot easier if everyone would mind their own damn business and stop _staring_. So instead of pulling at the retched clothes she was forced to wear out in public, Sakura grabbed Naruto's hand and yanked him into their destination. The tell all bell dinged as they stepped into the perfume filled atmosphere.

It was only when Naruto realized that they were in a salon that he gulped in dismay. Why was he here again?

Sakura all but stomped over towards the blonde that she knew was sitting in the back chair having her nails done. She once again dragged Naruto with her and then pushed him down into the neighboring chair. In an instant Ino's eyes flickered towards the two in wonder, "Yes?"

Sakura sighed, "So remember before when I wasn't sure? Well now I am, Naruto saw him with his own two eyes."

Naruto, who had absolutely no idea what the hell was happening tried to cut in. "I saw wh-"

Ino shushed him in pure excitement as she pulled away from the woman doing her nails, "No way!"

Sakura nodded, "Would he be here if he hadn't? This is Naruto…in a salon. Obviously this is true. I'm telling you, the man needs help and Naruto agrees."

Ino turned towards Naruto, "Are you sure? Was it really him?"

Naruto looked towards his pink haired friend. What was happening? "Umm…"

Ino brushed him aside and turned towards Sakura, "Oh my god it _is_ true, Itachi must have threatened him or something. Naruto _never_ stutters!"

Sakura just nodded, "Could you imagine if this got out? Naruto could be killed, or worse knowing what Sharingon is capable of. We have to keep this between us Ino, I'm serious."

Ino nodded vigorously and Sakura sighed overdramatically. "I have to go, I just wanted to tell you because I needed to let someone else know in case Naruto goes missing or something. I cannot always be there to protect him."

"Hey-" said knucklehead tried but was cut off by Ino.

"It's between us," she said righteously, like she was well known for keeping a secret. It was of course the exact opposite, her being the gossip queen of any year to ever come out of the academy.

Naruto's hand was grabbed in another instant as they strode out of the business. They passed the women getting their hair done, some returning from an updo and others having had their eyebrows waxed. Each person stared in wonder, obviously dying to know any bit of gossip to be had, especially if it involved the legendary Itachi Uchiha. Only when they made it to the door, the ding quickly being cut off by the closing door that Sakura let lose even the slightest of breaths. Still she continued on, determined to keep her face on for the surrounding onlookers. It was only when they made it across the street that Sakura turned back towards Naruto, "Thanks, I am feeling a lot better now."

Naruto, finally catching on that he had just been a victim in this strange turn of events looked at her questioningly, "What just happened?"

Sakura once again started walking down the street, a small skip in her step. "Ino is the biggest gossip around in any village, we don't even need to limit it to our own, and salons are where everything gets passed around. You Naruto, just made my day."

* * *

He had had the strangest feeling that something was wrong. It was extremely abnormal for the feeling of nervousness to take him over like it had which is why he knew to pay attention to it. His gut was his greatest weapon, something he had all but perfected on the field, and something was obviously happening.

He was walking down the street picking up a thing of applesauce for his mother when he got the first glance. He had never been pitied before and he sure as hell had never planned on it happening to him, which is why Itachi did not recognize the look at first. In fact, he had originally mistaken the look and attributed it to someone behind him. Again and again it had happened, all from the women surrounding him. Eventually he decided to ignore it, obviously wanting to discover why this gut feeling was so strong and not caring in the least why other people were looking at him oddly.

"I will take this," he said while placing the container and money on the table.

The woman at the desk smiled with her teeth but her eyes were entirely different. "It's on the house, a warrior like you deserves a few perks. Would you like me to call a bag boy? I am sure he could carry it for you."

Itachi could not believe what he had just heard. Was this woman insane? Did she not know who he was? Help? Perks? When had he ever accepted any of that? "Take the money woman."

Her smile brightened to an even greater degree right before she placed her hand, almost comfortingly, on his shoulder, "It's okay, you don't need to be the strong one all the time. I could be there for you."

One thought came to his mind in that moment.

Sakura.

She had done something. He wasn't sure what but he was positive it had been her. So instead of debating with the woman and any delusional thought she had about him Itachi threw the money on the counter grabbed the jar. He then walked out of the store only to be stopped by another woman, only this one was probably his mother's age, "Oh dear, I heard you were back from a mission Itachi. Did it go well? I hope the other ninja were not to mean to you."

Mean? What had the woman done?

Itachi slammed the door open to his house as his anger settled in. The woman had crossed a line. He had no idea what she had done, or how she had done it so fast but she had effectively made herself his number one priority. So, it was with a bit of surprise that he saw his mother sitting in the middle of the kitchen on the very stool they had been talking at earlier in the night. She looked at him briefly before tapping the spot next to her.

He quickly sat down surprised to see her so serious. His mother was usually the light hearted one of the family, "Mother?"

Mikoto unraveled her hands from underneath her chin and turned to face him. Her eyes were stern but still understanding, "Were we to hard on you?"

Then in made sense. His mother's strange behavior could more than likely be attributed towards the same woman who had caused him so much grief earlier. Whatever the pink haired witch had done had somehow reached his mother's ears.

"I realize your childhood was not easy, that you were under a constant amount of pressure and for that I am sorry. I always knew that your father wanted the best out of you, more so than he did anyone else, but I always thought that I provided a good balance. Did I let him expect too much? Please tell me Itachi. Maybe the title clan leader is more weight than I thought, we can give it to your brother. I will get the elders to understand and your father will be angry for a while but-"

"Mother, what is going on?" he tried.

Mikoto straightened up in her seat, slightly miffed that her son had cut her off. One, it was very out of character for him, he was after all raised with manners, but she had also had to come up with quite a bit of courage to face her eldest like this, "You do not always need to be strong Itachi, you do not have to cry alone."

For the first time in all of history Itachi stuttered, "C-Cry?"

"Yes, a fellow ninja saw you in the back alley of the northern district and he was positive that it was you. Itachi, why didn't you just tell me how much pressure you felt, I could always work with you. Perhaps I could take care of some of your duties until you feel more up to it. The academy will understand if the students are placed with someone else as their temporary sensei."

There were no words to convey his shock at this whole situation. The woman was a devil, one he had severely underestimated.

* * *

Sakura had known that Itachi would not let the rumor circulating about him go on for very long. He was a prideful man, one who relied on his image to keep people away. It was why she knew that no matter what she told Ino it was all temporary, even if 48 hours was far shorter than she was expecting. What did knock the breath out of her was how he had decided to spin it.

"Sakura?" asked Sasuke as she ordered her dinner off the menu, "Why does everyone think I was crying in the northern district?"

Sakura took a sip of her water and smiled, "It's probably a mistaken identity or something. Of course it wouldn't have been pinned on you if you weren't such a social recluse."

Sasuke scoffed, "I don't care what others think, but this is just stupid."

Sakura nodded happily glad that she had gotten under Itachi's skin enough to make him take action on something. And while yes he was able to divert her rumor towards his younger brother, there would always be an underlying suspicion that it was him and for that she was happy. Yes, the rumor may have been stopped but not the thought. While sipping her drink she absentmindedly noticed that a neighboring table was looking at her questioningly. With a growl she looked down at her clothes, her Uchiha clothes, and tried to suppress the urge to yell.

God, what was she property or something?

"Is there a reason you are dressed in my clan's colors?" asked Sasuke as he noticed her discomfort.

Sakura slammed her drink down and attempted to say this with some form of civility, "All my other clothes disappeared and for some reason no shops will sell to me. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

Sasuke, seeing how angry she truly was, let the matter drop with a shake of his head. Sakura, needing something to occupy her time went straight back to sipping her water.

She freaking hated the Uchiha clan. Of course you can only ignore a certain amount of blatant staring and she immediately felt her anger escalate instead of dissipate. Why were they all staring anyways? So she was wearing Uchiha clan symbols, it wasn't like that was odd or anything. She was after all former teammates with Sasuke, so it shouldn't be this strange right. Deciding that she had to know, because she hated being in the dark about anything, Sakura quickly turned towards her friend, "Why is everyone staring?"

Sasuke, really not wanting to be the bearer of bad news to her, anyone else then yes he would be more than happy to ruin their day, but Sakura was known for her right hook. She also had this little thing called chakra that virtually killed anyone that pissed her off, "It's just the colors that's all."

Sakura, getting the sense that he was being abnormally vague even for him, hooked her foot around his chair leg and pulled him as close as the table would allow. After the loud noise of wood screeching on wood, and Sasuke almost spilling his drink, they made eye contact, "Sorry, I didn't hear you."

Sasuke briefly looked around the room for Naruto, knowing that the idiot was always a good out in any situation, but was left disappointed. Apparently everyone else in the Leaf but him had known to stay away from the pink haired beauty, "Well, technically those colors are not strictly Uchiha. Ours are blue and black, yours are just plain black."

Sakura's glare intensified, obviously not willing to be pushed aside like he had hoped, "And what does plain black mean Sasuke?"

"…You know if you knew anything about my clan I wouldn't have to explain this to you. You should just look it-"

The table jarred into his stomach as he was once again pulled into the table, only this time much further than his body wanted to allow, "God Sakura," he growled, "just ask Itachi, those are his freaking colors."

The hold in his chair immediately lessoned and he was finally able to breathe again. But before he could glare at her she cut him off, "What do you mean _his_ colors?"

The younger Uchiha grabbed his drink and swirled it a bit, obviously trying to ignore the new found pain in his gut, before he turned back towards the medic in front of him, "Only the clan head or the future clan head wears all black. Everyone else incorporates blue in their wardrobe. The more black you have the higher up in the clan and in case you were too stupid to notice, you are wearing all black. For all intensive purpose's you just declared yourself _his_."

Sakura's chair shattered against the nearby wall, drawing in the attention of everyone at the restaurant. Sasuke, who had watched her stand before he had even finished his explanation looked back at the wooden splinters, "How fast did you stand in order for it to-"

She was gone before he could properly berate her for being an emotionally unstable woman.

Sakura was more than over this entire thing. It was one thing to take her clothes, it was another to decorate her room and hell, she could even understand rubbing her face in it by not setting off any of her alarms but screw it all to hell when he publically claims ownership like that.

She all but stomped her way through the streets of the town, intent on one place and one place only. She was going to ruin that stupid Uchiha if it was the last thing she ever did. In fact, she was going to do the same thing to him that he had done to her. She was going to take away every sliver of independence and freedom that he ever dreamed of having.

Sakura slammed the door in front of her open and looked at the women changing. Without even a moment's hesitation Sakura ran over towards the lockers and ripped the metal contraption off its hinges. Inside sat a changing bag, one with the Huuyga crest on it. Sakura all but tore the shirt off her back and slipped on Hinata's cream colored shirt with the Huuyga crest displayed on the front. Before she had turned the heiress's offer down because she didn't want to discriminate between clans but that was way past due. In fact, Sakura was a little more than ready for some hard core clan rivalry.

Sakura quickly waved to the women in the locker room, who had stopped changing in order to look at the raging bull who had just demolished a locker with a single yank, as she stepped back into the hallway. Now it was time for some damage control, and when she said damage she meant causing as much of it as she could.

As Sakura made her way towards the school's office she grabbed a sharpie, intent on doing this right. Thank goodness she had prepared for this moment by looking at Itachi's handwriting. Being an undercover operative took a lot of hard work, dedication and skill. While she did not have sharingon to help her out she did have over ten years worth of having to learn people's signatures on the spot. And while it may not be her best work it was going to do for now.

By the time she made it to the office Tenten was by her side, "I heard you were here…what are you planning?"

Sakura grabbed a white sheet of paper and placed it on a nearby desk. Thankfully the school was full of them so she had plenty of space. "Nothing."

Tenten tried to read the document but Sakura was covering it up suspiciously. She was also taking an extraordinary amount of time writing her letters, which meant something was bound to be illegal, "Sakura, I know he's a bastard but think this through. You cannot get arrested at this point in your life."

"It's not illegal, just frowned upon. Besides, Mikoto will thank me after this," smirked Sakura as she crossed her final letter. She placed a period at the end of the sentence and turned towards the copy machine. Placing the sheet face down she typed in _150 Copies_ and then turned towards her friend.

Tenten, knowing that Sakura was mad and hadn't even heard of the visit a few days ago, desperately tried to plead with her friend, "I don't know what he did but I am sure that he does not deserve whatever you are planning. I am also sure that you don't want to deal with whatever he is going to do in retribution. Think of Kakashi, or Tsunade. Better yet, think of all your patients!"

Sakura turned towards the window, "No, I'd rather think of his face when this all blows up on him. I dealt with him when I was a kid because I didn't know better, well, now I do."

The machine beeped and Sakura happily pulled out the large stacks of freshly printed paper before looking at the clock, "Oh perfect, classes are almost out."

Tenten attempted a swipe at the stack but missed it by an inch as Sakura walked back out into the hallway. Sakura was once again on the move and heading up towards the stairs labeled 'Balcony'. Tenten quickly jumped in her way and held out her hand, "I want to see what you did, right now."

Sakura, seeing that this would be easier without Tenten standing in front of her, handed the original copy to her brown haired friend and smiled, "Here you go, also," she grabbed about half the stack and placed it in Tenten's arms, "I will need to post these in the hospital, or maybe the tower, so hold onto them would you?"

Tenten nodded, knowing there was no point to arguing with Sakura, instead she scanned the paper. She immediately felt her stomach drop.

The man would kill her.

When Tenten looked back up Sakura was nearly towards the top stairs. With chakra enhanced skills Tenten jumped towards the top in an attempt to stop her friend, "Where did you get this? Is it real?"

Sakura smirked, "Hospital records of course. His handwriting came from a report on a knee wound his last medic had to get permission to treat and his number was from a family member's emergency contact list."

Tenten looked down at the page while her friend opened the door leading towards the outside balcony, "Sakura, you have to know how much chaos this will cause. It will be like a third shinobi war or something!"

Sakura happily glanced over the railing as students, ages six to eighteen stepped out from their classes. Oh, she was more than aware of the madness that was about to ensue. She also knew that very few other things would piss him off as much as he had her. She then brought her fingers up to her lips and whistled as loud as possible, wanting to gather a crowd. When she had the attention of the majority of the students, or they were at least looking upwards towards the balcony because they could not see her, Sakura threw the stack of papers into the air.

Yes it was childish and yes it was low. She was also more than aware of its Naruto worthiness but quite frankly she didn't care one bit. So together, one in dread and one in bliss, the two ninja's watched as girls snatched the innocent pieces of paper. They watched as young and old, eyes glowed with happiness, girls giggled merrily.

They watched as Itachi's life was singlehandedly turned inside out by a pink haired green eyed medic.

* * *

**Firevixen73**- Ohh, what did she do? What did she do? You are going to have to wait to find out.


	7. Best to Sit This One Out

_Itachi was very mad. He had never really felt intense amounts of anger in his life but here he was, chucking away at a stupid block of wood when he desperately wished it to be his father's retched face. He loved his father, he did, but at times all he wanted to do was leave the Uchiha clan behind. He knew his duty, his father did not have to remind him of it all the time; he did not have to demand better from him. He was already the top ranking ninja in his division, and one of the youngest at that. His speed could rival that of many jounin, but his father could not see the skill. All he could see was something that could be improved upon._

_Suddenly, something caught the young boy's attention. It was the very distinct noise of someone's feet. He knew the shuffling sound, the familiar weight distribution of someone dancing on the balls of their feet before they struck their prey from behind._

_Yes, he knew it well. He had done the very same thing to the pink haired brat not two days ago when she was with the Hyuuga girl. This was of course after distracting the heiress's guard with a minor situation involving a man trapped in a Sharingon induced hallucination. Personally, Itachi saw his interactions with the Hyuuga guard as good practice, since it always had to be something new in order to keep up appearances. But this sound was different than what he had done. It was heavier than his own footsteps, and there was more than one individual surrounding the area. _

_Itachi positioned his kunai at his hip, ready to throw if necessary. His time as a ninja had taught him to always be ready for an attack, even if you were alone on a street with no one but your best friend as company. Everyone was a potential enemy, there wasn't one person out there who could not be swayed by one thing or another. He had been on one to many missions where parents had betrayed children, siblings killing for money and under the worst of situations comrades would stab each other in the back in plain daylight._

"_Itachi Uchiha, heir to the Uchiha clan?" boomed a voice throughout the forest walls. Itachi straightened his back, in an attempt to act surprised. He stopped his meticulous cutting and spent more effort in an attempt to locate the voice. It was bouncing off the trees which made it hard to pinpoint, but he could surmise that it was coming from the Northeast. Of course, that did him little good in this situation. He was more concerned about the four individual pairs of feet still jumping from tree to tree._

"_I am Itachi," he spoke after pinpointing exactly where the voice was coming from. It was familiar, the voice. He knew in his bones that the man speaking had met him before. Perhaps at a clan meeting? Fugaku always did insist that Itachi attend those wretchedly long meetings despite the young heir's youth. _

_Finally the man stepped forward and out from the bushes. Predictably enough he came from the Northeast direction, his cover being an overgrown tree. When the light from the moon hit his face Itachi immediately recognized the man. He was one of the leading officers in charge of the Uchiha Police. If memory served, the brute was well into his father's debt and servitude._

_The man in black caught young Itachi's eyes, Sharingon spinning, "Your father feels that you need some re-education on what it means to be not only an Uchiha, but an Uchiha clan leader. One must be strong, resilient and above all they must put aside their personal feelings to do what is best for the clan. Your father sends his regret, but he feels this must be a lesson you are reminded of."_

_It happened before he ever could have combated it. The four shinobi, all from the Uchiha police force, were on him in one giant attack. Even if he had been prepared there would not have been anything he could have done. They were Anbu, they were stronger, they were ready. He felt the beatings come at him, the punches, the kicks, the chakra. Itachi tried to block the blows but they were coming at him from a speed his Sharingon could barely register. It was one thing to be able to follow an attack, it was an entirely new ability to be able to dodge it. Itachi was quickly thrown threw another tree, its bark breaking painfully against his back. He tried to flip to the side after landing on the ground but his leg was yanked out from underneath him. In an instant he was punched in the gut, the wind being completely knocked out of him._

"_This is a lesson you must learn young master," spoke the familiar voice._

_Itachi felt his anger grow at the smugness in the older man's voice but could do nothing to stop the attacks. He tried to look the men beating him in the eye but each time he turned his head it would snap to the side from the brute force of the blows. His eyes were already swelling shut and he could taste the blood pooling in his mouth. It was too much, he could not take this anymore. He couldn't struggle without wasting what little energy he had left, the energy that was keeping him breathing. With more regret than Itachi could ever put into words, he felt his resolve lesson. He could feel his mind and body giving up the fight._

"_Leave him!" yelled an entirely new voice._

_Itachi tried to turn his head but it was being pushed into the disgusting dirt. Only the brown of the twigs and ground was visible to him at the moment but he desperately wished he knew who was standing up for him. At the same time, Itachi wanted to tell them to run. These were not ordinary ninja, they were Anbu. They were hand picked by his father to carry out this task. One man would never be able to take them._

"_Leave Hatake, this has nothing to do with you. This is clan business," boomed the hateful voice of the police chief._

_Something in Itachi clicked as he heard the name. Hatake? As in Kakashi Hatake? He had heard of the man, but never met him. He was supposed to be a genius, someone on par with him. According to the rumors he was better than most Uchiha's with his mysteriously placed Sharingon. He didn't know how the man had acquired it, since Uchiha blood wasn't present in the man. It was something his father, or anyone else, refused to talk about._

"_If I gave a shit about your clan, I wouldn't be here," said the now harsh voice he identified as Kakashi Hatake._

_Before Itachi could register what was happening the painful pressure being placed on his upper arm and neck was gone. He turned slightly in an attempt to cough up as much blood as possible, releasing the taste from his mouth and lungs. He was no medic but he knew blood in your lungs was an incredibly bad thing. He heard a loud snap, one that reminded him of the familiar noise of bone breaking, then Itachi remembered the situation. _

_By the time he turned around there was a tall figure in black standing directly in front of him. With an internal cringe Itachi craned his neck upwards, his head now perpendicular with his back. He was met with Sharingon, blood and silver hair. Itachi's first instinct was to glare at the intruder, this was Uchiha property after all, and his second instinct was to stand face to face with this strange man. He of course never would, with Hatake being a good foot and a half taller than him, but that was irrelevant._

"_How did you do that?" asked Itachi while trying to ignore the blood that was once again rising in his throat. He was really going to have to do something about his cut up mouth._

_Kakashi leaned down, bending at the knee in his usual position, while assessing the boy in front of him. When he was eye level, because he sensed Itachi's resistance, Kakashi looked over his shoulder at the five men scattered around the forest floor. With a glint in his eye the man turned back towards the battered and bruised individual, "Experience."_

"_They were fast," tried Itachi._

_Kakashi reached forwards and grabbed Itachi's chin. He pulled it forward with a hard thrust and inspected the damage. He had blood leaking out of the right side of his mouth, one of his eyes was already swelled shut and the boy was favoring his left side. Fugaku really did a number on his son. After a few second he turned back towards Itachi and pulled away, "I am faster. Come on, I have medical supplies in my apartment."_

_Itachi pulled away, not sure what exactly was happening._

_Kakashi, with patience he never knew he had, pushed himself from the ground and stood on his own two feet, "Listen kid, you can come with me or go home. I would suggest not going home unless of course you want to deal with the man that ordered your…condition."_

_Itachi turned his body to face the house where he knew the man called Fukagu was waiting. He had been privy to more than one lesson like this, his father always felt that people learned best through experience, but this was the first time anyone had came to help. Even when it was in the middle of the Uchiha grounds and others could obviously hear the commotion no one had ever stepped out to stop it. No one had ever saved him._

_Itachi looked back towards Kakashi Hatake, the man who had taken down his father's hand picked 'teachers' in less than a couple of minutes. "You knew they were coming?"_

_Kakashi turned towards his apartment that was a good way away from where they were, but managed a quick look over his shoulder, "Your father is a predictable man, even after so many years of not seeing him. You defied him in a public setting, it was only a matter of time before he taught you not to do it again."_

_Itachi pushed himself onto his feet, limping only slightly, "Why did you come?"_

_Kakashi turned back towards his original destination. He could tell the Uchiha that no one deserved to be treated like that. He could have said that the great Copy Cat Ninja had requested the week off after hearing about Itachi's defiance in the Uchiha meetings, he even could have told him that Pakkuun had been following the Uchiha heir for the last three days, of course, that wouldn't be his style. So, with a smirk Kakashi answered his question, "I was in the area."_

* * *

Tenten was right in assuming that the Leaf village was about to be destroyed from the inside out. Sakura had just given the ultimate excuse to every person in the village to declare their best friend a mortal enemy. The prize at the end of the game was more than worth it and she held no doubt in her mind that people would do anything to end up on the top.

"The town is in an uproar and I have never before seen such hatred," sighed Tsunade as she pulled out her favorite brand of sake. Of course Tsunade had assembled her most trustworthy of staff in order to help deal with the chaos. Currently standing there was her favorite student, Sakura Haruno, along with Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Shizune, Anko and Kurenia. They were Tsunade's lead members who she would trust her life with, unfortunately the woman had no idea that one of her members was the cause of her misery.

Tsunade, not wanting to beat around the bush, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with immaculate handwriting. Hinata, who was not at the scene of the crimes but had been more than privy to the handwriting, automatically felt herself gulp as she recognized the font. In fact, she had seen the very same thing not a few days ago taped onto Sakura's refrigerator door. What had Sakura done now?

Tsunade slowly un-crumpled the piece of parchment until the creases were semi-straight. When it was legible she read it to the group, _"Prove yourself to me and you will be mine, until death do us part."_

The phone number followed it at the end of the page.

No name was necessary, every woman in the village had already determined who it belonged to. Or at least, who it should have belonged to. Tenten had to keep herself from biting her lip as Tsunade scanned the room. It was a marriage proposal in the making and Itachi was at the center.

"Everyone is now vying for the position of Itachi's wife. Before the title has only been available to the higher ups, and usually stays within the Uchiha line as it did with Mikoto and most of the women before her. This generation seems to be different and now everyone is fair game. People are willing to do anything for the title of the Uchiha Matriarch. It is one of the most influential positions a woman in near any village can hold. As many of you know it is as powerful as the name Hokage and would give anyone with it immense authority. I am suspecting a vast amount of problems from Itachi's new found arrogance," Tsunade all but scowled while saying this.

Tenten, while not a snitch was having a very hard time keeping this in. She had been there when Sakura had unleashed the handful of innocent scraps of paper. In fact, Tenten would be considered an accomplice at best. But instead of snitching, she really just wanted Sakura to come clean. At the same time, who knew what Tsunade's reaction would be. Perhaps it would be safer to let Itachi take on all the hatred in the room.

"We are having to put around the clock guards at the Uchiha estate due to the amount of solicitors they have been receiving, not just from our village but other's as well. Apparently a few of these papers managed to reach our borders in a manner of hours so we are also increasing our home security. I need our best to keep an eye out for fanatics. The shinobi already have guards stationed but we are the best at catching what happens under the radar, despite what the buffoon men of this village say. They will undoubtedly let the better ones slip through. I need you to be on the lookout for them," she said angrily while taking a sip of her drink.

The shinobi of the village had already turned her offer for help down, the men thinking that they had things covered. Tsunade paid it little to no attention. Itachi Uchiha was the catch of the century and no woman within her right mind was going to let him get away willingly. Furthermore, no father was going to stand by as the financial opportunity of a lifetime was walking past them.

Sakura, who had been silent since the meeting had been called, drew in a quick breath of air in order to grab everyone's attention, "I am going to have to turn this mission down."

Needless to say, only a few people in the room were surprised. Most sitting there already knew Sakura's relationship with Itachi and while they didn't expect her to turn it down, they were anticipating for the pinket to slack off as much as possible. Tenten on the other hand was sweating kunai in her seat. While she wanted Sakura to confess, she did not want to be there when the moment happened. She, like the others, liked her Anbu status where it was and did not feel the immediate need to be demoted.

Tsunade blinked a few times, obviously not comprehending the situation, or the fact that her student had flat out said no to her, and tried to process what she had just heard, "Is there a reason that you feel you have the authority to obey a direct order?"

Sakura, who was sitting in the middle and directly across from her former mentor, didn't even fidget in her chair while replying. Instead the woman remained as calm as humanly possible, as if explaining to a three year old that candy is sweet. "If I were to help it would effectively undo all the work I put into causing this situation."

Tenten had successfully died in her seat right there. Anko and Tsunade seemed incapable of speech as they each tried to explain Sakura's statement in their head. Ino on the other hand, had a very different response.

"I was wondering when you would grow a backbone and show him up, the bastard totally deserved this. Sure, he's as hot as they come and I would do him in any back alley but he is a total prick when it comes to you," she said excitedly. It looked as if Christmas had come early for those in the know. Sakura could only hope that the blonde was capable of keeping at least one secret. Of course, the prospect of being on the inside of the feud between Sakura and Itachi might just be enough to keep her mouth shut.

Tsunade, who had been stressing about this entire situation moments before, looked down at the sheet in front of her. Tsunade more than remembered when Sakura had first perfected the skill of forging signatures which was quickly followed by handwriting. They had been in Water country at the time, Sakura was perhaps nine years old. Tsunade had refused to pay for an inn, despite the weather. So, little pink haired Sakura had woken up in the middle of the night and bought a room, on Tsunade's credit of course. It seemed the little brat was even better than either her or Shizune remembered. "And why would you put so much effort into making my life hell?"

Sakura couldn't help the wicked smirk that danced across her lips. Sometimes things just played out to perfectly to be true, "Not your life, just his. Do you remember those nightmares I had?"

Tsunade scoffed, "Do I, you kept me up for a good month with those wretched things. I was more than close enough to knocking your little ass out every night just to get you to shut up."

Sakura brought her nails up to eye level and casually stared to inspect them, "Well, about two weeks ago he decided it would be fun to start up our old game. I'm sure you remember it, he did after all give you a false document say I had agreed to participate in the Uchiha and Hyuuga land dispute that I might add, I only had an hour to prepare for."

Well that certainly got Tsunade's attention. It was one thing to hear about someone pulling something over on her student, since it was a character building life lesson that should be experienced, but for someone to include her in it was another matter. "Itachi was the one who gave me the paper…he was the bully? You never did mention his name."

Sakura leaned back in her chair, loving the way her day was going. In fact, aside from the little issue with Sasuke this morning things were absolutely wonderful. She had a room full of allies and Itachi Uchiha was hating his meaningless existence he called life. Did it get any better?

Tsunade, who was busy determining what to do about the situation, quickly decided on the proper course of action. "You know," she said while once again reaching under the table. Instead of pulling out another bottle of sake she held in her hand a few old and worn glasses that yes, needed a good dusting but were in relatively good condition. After that she pulled a dishrag out and handed it to Shizune who was already attempting to clean the glasses with her shirt. Once one of the glasses was clean the leader of the female shinobi of the village began pouring her friends a glass of her favorite drink. "Jiraya made it perfectly clear that he has everything under control and Mikoto knows how to get a hold of me if things go too far. I am thinking that my girls are already overworked and we really cannot spare anyone to do missions they aren't even going to get paid for. Since they are so competent, I am thinking they should be fine if I stay out of this one."

Sakura's same witch like smile appeared and she knew that nothing would ever top this moment of triumph. In fact, she could single handedly take down all of Sound and she doubted the feeling would compare. Once everyone had a glass in their hand Tsunade looked at her fellow ninja and smiled, "I think we should do this more often."

* * *

He spent little to no time at home, that being the first place people would suspect him being at. Itachi was all but moved out by the end of the week. His week had been pure madness, a stream of utter chaos with no visible end in sight. There was only one person to blame for his misery, only one human being capable of this level of mischief.

"Got to say, you put something pretty nice together rather quickly," laughed Yamato as he scanned the newly designed living room. It was a classic combination of darker woods with black and red designs throughout the area. The rest of the house was designed similarly in the typical Uchiha fashion. Just because he was no longer residing within his own home did not mean he could not enjoy similar comforts provided to him through his family heritage.

Suichi, who was more than happy to laugh at his friends predicament, easily slid onto the comfortable couch and placed his hands behind his head, "The realtor who sold it to you have any daughters?"

Something heavy and dangerous all but killed said cousin as a leftover box was thrown onto his stomach. It carried a good portion of Itachi's weaponry and must have weighed over a hundred pounds easily. "I assure you, there are no females in his direct line. No daughters, no sisters, no nieces and no cousins that he is close to. The bonus I gave him should be enough to keep quiet."

Yamato, who was apparently the only adult one in the room at the moment, couldn't help but feel sorry for his friend. The last week had been nothing but a hassle. Itachi had been nothing but terrorized by the once believed fairer sex. It was somewhat of a pity they could not leave on a mission to get away from it all. Unfortunately both him and Itachi had taken on a group of academy students and were obligated to see things through. Luckily both were given a brief reprieve in about a week, due to a previously scheduled mission and would get a small break.

"How many years have I been telling you to leave her alone?" Suichi all but happily whistled while pushing the box off of him. They all ignored the familiar thunking noise, followed by metal hitting metal, as it crashed to the ground.

Yamato was hearing none of it, "I still don't understand why a feud that happened years ago is still relevant now. According to my info she was what, seven or eight the last time you saw her?"

"She has become smarter…and more defiant. She was never this much trouble as a child," argued Itachi while walking over to his kitchen. The apartment that he was renting was in Itachi's opinion fairly small, but more than adequate for one person to live in. His living room area was connected to his dinning room, the only division between them was the hardwood floor that his table rested on. Next to that was a fairly large kitchen, which was ordered to be fully stalked the day before he officially moved in. The layout was open, how he liked it.

Yamato, who had yet to meet this Sakura woman, honestly couldn't believe his ears. How was a normal little girl supposed to stand up to the great Itachi Uchiha? The man he called captain was beyond any fathomable level good, his mind worked in ways no one understood. And he was going at it with some girl like anyone else would talk about a genin ninja spar?

"So what is your next move Itachi? I have never known you to let Sakura get away with anything." Suichi was provoking him and everyone in the room knew it. Yamato, for his part, was baffled at Suichi's part in this. While normally up for a joke or really any form of teasing the man was rather protective of the female population. Something about flowers needing to properly bloom.

Yamato voiced this very concern and Suichi just laughed, "This is no ordinary woman and she is more than capable of handling her own. I have seen her best Itachi enough times to recognize how amusing it is."

Itachi did not dignify that with an immediate response but instead continued to glare at his soon to be removed family member, "If memory serves dear cousin she has lost as many as she had gained, do not give her undue credit."

The man kicked off his shoes and all but sprawled himself across the couch. With a laxidazical attitude, one similar to the aloofness of Kakashi but the playfulness of Naruto, Suichi laughed, "Man, she beat you, _you_! I don't even care if it is once, it still happened. Of course I would expect nothing less from the daughter of Kakashi. She got his brains for sure, it's no wonder you two are always at it. It was like watching two wolves decide if they wanted to kill each other or start their own little pride. I remember when you were young and man I thought you were moments away from declaring her your future bride half the time."

Yamato stalled in his thinking, "Kakashi's daughter? That is who the feud is with?...I understand now, she is a force to be weary of."

Itachi was quickly getting to the point of violence. Under the strict rules of his own home he was silent and obeyed orders but he was not there. He was not under the stifling roof of his father but now in a property that was his. He was allowed to do what he pleased. "I assure you cousin, she was closer to death than carrying the Uchiha name least of all through me."

Suichi rolled over on his stomach in the same playful manner, "Whatever you think is true Itachi. I can say that your…playfulness with her is odd. I've worked with enough kids to know when a little boy doesn't know what to do with those nasty feelings in the pit of his stomach. And for you, the genius that you were back then it must have been worse. I mean, actually finding someone who could keep up and then trying to intellectualize it? Must have been hell."

Itachi had heard enough. In answer to his idiotic cousin's rant he threw down a file for their next mission they were set to head out in a week for. "That is enough of your idle talk, it is time to prepare."

Suichi groaned, "But this was so much more fun. Hey, have you considered Sakura for this marriage proposal thing. Has she, what was the wording? Proven herself to you?"

Yamato laughed as well, "I think by this little antic of hers she certainly has. I must meet her though, and not go off of the town's multitude of rumors and approve of her myself if she is truly going to be your wife."

Itachi, for his part could not fathom why he had surrounded himself with such buffoons. Was this what Sakura felt every day? Her life with his younger brother and Naruto could not be easy, though possibly more entertaining due to the blonde's nature. Despite his father's view on the demon container Itachi was rather amused every time he was around. There was something to be appreciated by a person who could rile his father up to that extent. Deciding to completely sidestep his comrade's statements about the insufferable girl Itachi stuck to what he knew best, missions. "The mission is a four man job, we will require a fourth since we are lacking in numbers."

Yamato, while not normally one to instigate things to an unmanageable degree, almost never saw his captain flustered. He wasn't about to pass this opportunity up, "Perhaps a medic would be a good idea. I have noticed our injuries are getting substantially worse."

Itachi, glad that someone was paying attention to the file in front of them, nodded in agreement, "I have put in many requests but few medics are willing. It is hard enough to find one that can keep up with an Anbu team, let alone ours. They almost always end up being Jounin level in either medic skills or ninja, never both."

Yamato nodded, glad to see his leader was intent to leave the discussion about Sakura and therefore blindly walking into his trap, "I agree, it doesn't help that we have to do requests and then they have to _agree_. No one ever takes up the mission by the time we need it. If only we had an in within the medical field, or even the female ninja population. It is a shame that we don't know anyone."

Suichi quickly caught on and couldn't help the smirk of a Cheshire cat spreading across his face. The captain before him already had his nose buried in the folder, "I agree, Yamato is right. We need a highly skilled medic one who is strong and smart."

"Please inform me if you find someone to fit the spot, I have been looking," replied Itachi while flipping the page.

Yamato chuckled while Suichi took over. He swiveled in his seat, his feet now planted on the ground, "Smart, strong capable…that would be quite the woman. She would have to have her own mind in order to stand up to you."

Itachi looked up questioningly, "I would be captain on this mission, insubordination would get us all killed. Why would you suggest such a thing?"

Casually he flicked his shoulder length hair out of his eyes, "When you are injured you stop for no one, despite the need for rest. I personally want someone who will tell you to stay alive rather than complete a mission. Besides I wasn't talking about insubordination, just standing up to you when you are being stubborn. What is the point in a medic if they don't do their job and heal you like they are supposed to?"

"I agree," spoke Yamato, "there have been too many close calls lately and as our permanent leading officer it is harder for us to tell you to stop. It would be nice to have someone with the knowledge and authority to make you listen during those crucial moments."

Itachi, despite the argument on the tip of his tongue knew that they were right. He did have a tendency to put the mission before his own safety. It was partially because they did not have the resources to be healed when they needed it, due to the lack of a team medic, and partially because he really was that stubborn. Perhaps it would be beneficial to his team to have someone with the ability to tell him no. Of course, that was easier said than done. "Perhaps if you find someone adequate we can discuss this further."

His head was once again buried in the folder. He had already read it through twice but now he needed to discuss the tactical invasion with his team. He had mentally assigned roles but it was best to review everything before the actual mission. Besides, it took his mind off of Sakura.

Itachi missed the glance between Yamato and Suichi. Suichi, who was taking this as his cue to become overly involved in the situation smiled happily, "So if I find a strong, smart, capable woman with the ability to heal you while knowing what she is talking about I can put in my own request?"

Itachi briefly wondered why this suddenly felt like one of his mother's many attempts at matchmaking. In fact, the same gut quenching feeling permeated his stomach much like it did when he met that infernal Uchiha woman who liked to clean her house. "If she meets the requirements and you can actually get one of them to agree then yes, you have my permission."

Suichi leaned back on the very comfortable couch a mask of the perfect subordinate gracing his features, "Good to know."

* * *

Sakura was walking out of a particularly nasty surgery, the poor genin had been stabbed through the upper left side of his heart with a poisoned needle. It was a miracle he had survived the trip back here, and even greater feat that he had survived the surgery. By the time he had made his way to her operating room the boy had the poison taking over his body, the blood corrupting substance already being absorbed throughout most of his organs, not to mention the extensive damage done to his already injured heart. With the jutsu she used he would hopefully make a full recovery, then again, shinobi were legendary for leaving the hospital early and causing themselves even worse injuries by doing so.

"Sakura!" yelled the all familiar voice of Shizune.

Sakura turned just in time, the bloody gloves being peeled off her fingers as she threw them in the trash, for Shizune to stop in front of her. With one look Sakura could feel the scowl already forming on her face, "Are those the weekly mission requests? I thought those weren't due for answering until tomorrow?"

Shizune smirked, "Special request just for you. Of course, its been mandated by the 3rd so if you can't do it I need to reassign, just let me know by tonight."

This caught Sakura's attention. It wasn't anything new for her to get a medic request on the field, but the special part was more than intriguing. That meant it was an Anbu mission which was always bound to be interesting. While she had no intention of taking the mission the reports were always fun to read. "They asked for me? Not Cat?"

"Sure thing, he was a looker to. Of course the mask was on and everything but one can tell. Seemed rather playful to be Anbu though, couldn't stop smirking. I could just feel it in the air as he handed it to me. Either way, its for you so no one else can open it," she said while handing over the sealed folder to her friend.

Sakura took it without much hesitation. She had a break coming up and needed to eat some form of lunch before her next scheduled surgery. One boy was already being prepped for a possible lung transplant in an hour. He had taken a fireball in the face and it burned away a good portion of his bronchioles. If she couldn't re-grow them then it would be a long night. She looked at the clock then back at the file, she had half an hour. "Alright, I'll read it."

Shizune was already sprinting away. With a small lag in her step, she had been up since four this morning preparing for all of her surgeries today, Sakura walked towards her office. When she stepped in and flicked on the light Sakura couldn't help but giggle at the sight. On her desk sat quite honestly, a bunch of weeds. They were beautiful though. Sitting in a makeshift vase was a handful of what looked to be daisies, sunflowers and a purple flower that she couldn't name. Maybe a type of Whisteria? Either way she knew exactly who they came from.

Placing the file down on the desk Sakura quickly reached over at the horrible arranged batch of flowers. She knew were these grew. There was a patch of daisies next to the Memorial Stone and she had a sneaking suspicion that a handful of them would be missing. Then, if you were to head in the direction of her mother's gravestone on the other side of the fence was a very large field of sunflowers. Finally, just outside the hospital there were the same purple flowers currently growing on a newly planted tree.

Needless to say she could pinpoint exactly what her father had done for the day.

Carefully she lifted the container up only to see the scratched off label of what appeared to be a sake bottle, Kakashi's favorite kind. "Definitely Daddy," she giggled.

With a satisfied huff Sakura sat down in her chair to once again glance at the flowers. Growing up without any love in her life had always been hard. She felt beyond lonely most of the time, like the world could have cared less about little old her in those tiny pink pigtails. Of course, it was moments like this where she could care less about the world. All she wanted was that undeniable feeling of being thought about to never leave.

It was with a large smile on her face that Sakura finally opened the file. With a small glance she immediately saw the need for a medic. Whomever the captain was he was smart to request one. To begin with, a mission like this required an extremely capable three man team at the very least. There were almost no three man units she would trust this to and the only logical option was to request a fourth. As she read through the case file Sakura couldn't help but appreciate all that would come about this mission. If they succeeded the military information gained from the Sound Village could be extremely valuable.

Somewhat regrettably Sakura put the file down. There was no way she was taking it of course. The mission was assigned for next week, the same week the majority of Mikoto's tests were scheduled. Sakura had managed to clear the wing for the machine malfunction unit, only emergency cases permitted. Her, Mikoto and Hinata would be performing every test under the sun on the Matriarch while they could.

Finally, when she got to the bottom of the page Sakura couldn't help the gasp. This was team Tsuyo? Despite her skills Sakura felt herself gulp. They were legendary in Konoha for being the best team around. A few of her medics had tried a hand at their team and were miserably shut down. Their captain was said to be ruthless and worked his members to the extreme. At the same time their team had the best rankings. It wasn't every day when an entire team of operatives was put in the bingo book let alone in their Anbu allias's.

"Wow, sucks for whoever takes this one," she laughed while once again smelling her flowers. It never crossed her mind to ask why they had requested her specifically and not Cat.

* * *

Mikoto couldn't believe how her week had gone. It had started off so strangely, what with her son making such a public display of maturity. While the act itself could have been done a different way, one where he came to her to discuss his future intentions she was more than excited to see him willing to settle down. Of course, she would have preferred him to simply tape it to Sakura's door and not release it to the entire population but one step at a time was all she could figure. At least he was now open to the idea of settling down.

Of course, he had reacted strangely when the offers began coming in. Instead of setting up the appropriate meetings for the marriage interviews he had left the house. Literally, he had left. She wanted to conclude that he simply did not want to bother her, that he was conducting them at his new apartment but when she visited Suichi informed her that he was indeed…hiding.

To think, her boy was for all intensive purposes hiding from the fairer sex. Of course, at this point in time Mikoto wasn't entirely sure that _fairer_ was the correct term. She had been privy to some pretty outrageous acts since the announcement. One girl, a jounin of all things, was found hiding in Itachi's closet with nothing but what she would forever tell herself was a lace swimsuit. Needless to say Mikoto was a little more than hesitant to fold anymore of Itachi's clothing. Of course, his wardrobe was exceedingly sparse as of a few weeks ago. She hadn't the slightest clue where the majority of his attire went but she could only hope towards a good cause. Perhaps Sakura needed donations towards a local charity?

Speaking of Sakura she needed to get a hold of the girl. The coughing was getting worse, and while Itachi's moving out was a somewhat low blow Mikoto was glad that the most observant person in the household was no longer there. Last night she had spent half an hour standing over a sink of dirty dishes coughing without the ability to stop. The blood had once again appeared, this time in larger amounts than before. She knew the tests were next week and the idea of answers were the one thing keeping her going.

"Mother?" came the soothing and familiar voice from behind her.

With a smile she gracefully turned around, because doing things gracefully was the only way she knew how, and gave her missing son a long overdue hug. "My little boy is missing me?"

Itachi smirked at her tone. She was playful today which was a relief. The last few weeks he had noticed a steady decline in her character. She was tired often, she had that awful cough and smiled a lot less. He had also noticed a decrease in her food intake. She was more picky about her food now, opting for soups and rice most of the time. Obviously he had asked the family doctor about any recent visits, only to find out that she hadn't had any. Hadn't she said that the doctor told her honey helped with a cough? This of course led to one explanation.

His mother was sick and didn't want anyone to know.

She was seeing another doctor for her help and was refusing to tell anyone. The question was, what to do with this information. He had no idea the extent of her sickness, it could honestly be a bad case of a cold. It didn't seem to warrant any further investigation, since his mother would never admit to prinking her finger let along having a cold. Still, no one was more protective over her than he was. Perhaps this would be a good assignment for his academy team while he was away.

"Will you be staying for dinner? I can make some sweet rolls, I know they are your favorite."

Itachi let his mother continue to talk as he watched her walk about the room. He knew her moods and she was visibly trying to perk herself up for him. There was too much pep and not enough eye contact. His mother always made eye contact. "I am afraid that I cannot tonight, I have a meeting I must attend."

In his mind Itachi was re-calculating exactly how his night was going to go. Originally he had come for dinner, not really liking to repeatedly eat the two meals he was capable of making again. Unfortunately he couldn't order out, or even go out, without the possibility of being found by one of his many desperate brides to be. Of course, as he watched Mikoto new ideas were forming. As far as he knew Mikoto didn't know any other capable doctors to turn to. Of course, Sasuke did. He remembered how adamantly she had listened to Sasuke and his father talk about Sakura and he had a suspicion that there was more to it. Had she gone to the pink haired woman bent on ruining him? It would be just like his mother to enlist her as a doctor in order to ensure Itachi spent time with her. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Mikoto favored the woman as a future daughter in law. Was it all staged?

"You should invite them over then, I would much prefer the company," smiled Mikoto while picking up the sugar bowl.

"I would but she does not know I plan on stopping by," with a swift kiss to his mother's temple Itachi walked out the door. He distinctly heard a muffled cough and prayed that it was all a plot. Rather falsely pushed into a match with a devil than anything being wrong with his mother.

He casually slipped from roof to roof without the slightest difficulty. The streets of Leaf were well known to him from any position, land or sky. While he was usually more prone to avoiding the hospital, for it rarely came with good news, tonight was an exception. He had stalked the pretty pink haired medic more than a few nights in order to determine her routine. He knew when she left and when she ate by the end of the two weeks after seeing her. The first week, with the trial had been a teaser. He wanted to see how she fared as well as mix up her schedule to see how she handled it. Needless to say she was everything he remembered.

At the end of that second week he had her schedule down, which is why his father's analysis of her life hadn't had too many surprises. Of course, Itachi was more than aware how quickly everything in her world seemed to change at the drop of a hat. One wrong placed weapon and her day was swamped. One bad jutsu and she wouldn't sleep for days. Her world, despite how well Sakura functioned in it, was never easy.

With ease he slipped into the window sill that was outside of her office. The locks were easy enough to disengage and there weren't any jutsu's for protection since she often worked with civilian employees. Silently, and with the ease of the Weasel depicted on his Anbu mask, Itachi slid into the room. His feet touched the floor gracefully as he searched for anything out of the ordinary. The man couldn't lie to himself, she had nearly gotten him with a few of her traps when he broke into her apartment.

It was dark, mainly because it was past dinner time. From her schedule he knew that she was probably getting out of surgery soon and would be heading back. Just in case he expanded his senses in an effort to locate her chakra signature. Like always it was easy to find. He would know that particular swirl of energy anywhere.

Unfortunately she was walking this way, the Hyuuga heiress right next to her. He could only assume they were discussing a case, probably one filed in this very room. With a brief flare of his Sharingon Itachi scanned the room. His ability would pick out any file with the name Uchiha on it. If his mother was in here he would know. Unfortunately Sakura was a rather clean individual and did not leave files strewn about like many of his previous doctors. In fact, the majority seemed to be in a jutsu enhanced file cabinet. It didn't take him long to figure out the two minutes he had wouldn't be enough to break it.

Instead he scanned her room for any changes since his last visit. It had been a couple of weeks but there were subtle differences. A coffee mug was placed on a different shelf, there were more requests on her desk for medical assistance then there were last time he broke in. She had placed a new picture on her desk as well. In the dark he couldn't tell who was in it, but he could distinctly make out her pink hair and what looked to be a man. Absentmindedly Itachi traced the arm that hung around the base of her waist. Were they together? He doubted his little brother would allow such a thing of that he was certain, so who was it?

With an act that was extremely out of character for him Itachi picked the picture up and held it closer towards the growing moonlight. Silver caught his eye.

It was just Kakashi.

He placed the picture down to brush his fingers up against the flowers resting on her desk. If he was honest they had been the first thing to catch his eye. He had never pinned Sakura for a girl that liked flowers, she seemed to apt to like weapons than anything else. Still, he was more than curious who they were from.

With Sharigon still activated he scanned them for a card. His eyes glanced in the trash as they tried to place something to match them. He of course found nothing. If there was no card then the only logical explanation was that she knew who they came from. Was she seeing someone behind her teammates backs? Surely he would have heard about it by now during one of Sasuke's sulking moods.

Itachi's senses perked as Sakura's chakra signature neared. In a mood to annoy he picked a flower from the vase. The door creaked open as both medic and nurse giggled while stepping into the room. "He actually gave you flowers?" said Hinata sweetly.

"I must have been giddy for the next few hours, even the interns said I looked happier today," smiled Sakura while stepping into the room.

Both turned at around the same time, both looking into the room when they felt the unfamiliar chakra. Sakura swore and Hinata bolted right down the hall. "Traitor," mumbled the pink haired doctor.

In an instant the door was shut, lights were on and Sakura had her arms angrily folded over her chest. "Here to kill me? It's rather public."

Itachi did not give into her goading, he had enough from Suichi over the last few days to build a tolerance by now. Instead he scanned her over. She looked slightly worn, there were various blood patches on her scrubs. Her hair was frazzled but still in a low ponytail that was out of her way. Overall, she looked like someone who really didn't want to deal with him.

Perfect.

"Weeds? Really Haruno?" he mocked.

"Shut up you bastard, I don't want nor need to deal with you. I'm still reeling over the fact that you threatened Tenten the other day. Yes Uchiha, my friends and I do talk," in an act of pure defiance Sakura stomped forward and pulled the vase out from his immediate line of sight, "And I like my weeds thank you very much. I'd rather have something that means anything significant than a load of crap like most girls get."

"Tenten was going to involve someone in our affairs that was unnecessary. No harm will become her or her shop, just a warning to keep personal matters personal. You know that you are the only one I would truly put in their place." After settling that matter Itachi quickly turned to the discussion he wanted as of two minutes ago, "And does my brother know you are getting presents of affection from an unknown admirer?"

Itachi felt his anger escalate but he wasn't sure why. It was a rather difficult feeling to stomach, the quenching feeling in his gut. What was worse was the knowledge that she wasn't even the one doing it, this _man_ was. He knew she wasn't seeing anyone, or at least hadn't been last week. Because of her stupid prank he hadn't had the time to properly torture her and honestly, he had no idea what was going on in her life. Was it another doctor? While annoying she was too good for someone of civilian standard. She needed someone to challenge her.

She was more riled by his comment towards the flowers that she was the threat of Tenten. Itachi would never hurt her friends, that she knew. Despite his relationship with her, he was no longer a little boy and had some semblance of honor. She had actually thrown that out their out of shock. It was not like Itachi to corner someone like this and she was at a slight loss of words at the moment. "I would hardly call Kakashi a suitor Uchiha but if you are that jealous I will be sure to inform him of what you think of his gift," she snapped back, absentmindedly rearranging the flowers to her liking.

Itachi immediately felt his anger dissipate. Kakashi? Kakashi picked flowers? Himself? Nothing in what she said made any sense. Kakashi was well known for being a hardcore bum whenever he got the opportunity. What's more, he had the emotional range of…well, Itachi. Both men were prideful and dedicated to what they did. Attachments tended to get in the way when it came to their personal levels of success. Even so, Itachi was glad that the feeling in the pit of his stomach had gone away. Now he was just furious at himself for being riled in the first place. He swore Sakura was the only woman to leave him so emotionally distraught.

"It is interesting that you bring up family, since that is exactly what I came to speak to you about." It was his personal opinion that if one did not want to discuss a topic it was best to plain avoid it. He did not want to talk about suitors, he had been around enough in the last few days.

"Oh really? And what could you possibly have to say about my family?" spat Sakura as she remembered many childhood moments where the young boy before her taunted her about being unloved. Well he sure as hell couldn't say that now. Despite Kakashi's aloof ways she never felt more secure or cared for than when with him.

"Not yours _brat_, mine," he said casually, just barely slipping in the stupid name he called her when they were children.

Sakura, to her own credit, not only kept her cool but also kept her professionalism. Despite how much she loathed Itachi she knew he was good at his job. No one had a better eye than him, not even her who was trained on detail since her time with Tsunade at age seven. She warned Mikoto that he would know, that he was smarter than even he let on. On some level Sakura was thankful to have had to deal with him since she was little, automatic responses that go against what he is looking for were second nature by now, "Is something wrong with Sasuke?"

"No, he is as stubborn as ever. It is my mother I wish to discuss. Despite our past involvement with each other I know that if she were to come and see you, you would treat her accordingly." He said this smoothly, no accusation, no questioning involved. It was a statement to the highest, one he expected her to agree to.

She knew he was fishing in his own little Uchiha way and Sakura concentrated on keeping eye contact. Her eyes, under no circumstance would lean towards the file tucked away in her bottom drawer. She had it stashed in the 'free clinic file' the one no one would touch. The free clinic was a septic tank of waste, most people coming in for STI's or unknown pregnancies. Only civilians came, since ninja's medical aid was paid for by Leaf, and it was a doctor's worst mandatory nightmare. Combine that with the false name and the file was secure…from everyone but him. He was beyond astute when it came to these things.

"I am not at liberty to discuss any patients that I may or may not have. I can say that the Uchiha district has their own doctors and I see very little reason for the Uchiha matriarch to come knocking at my door," Sakura, for her part was conflicted. She knew that if Itachi found out about his mother's undiagnosed illness it would take an immense amount of stress off of her patient. At the same time, she was by law required to keep the confidentiality. Even if it was Itachi, in her opinion someone should know.

"But if she came, she would be in good hands," again he was making his statement.

Sakura knew what he wanted to hear and she was debating within herself to tell him. While under normal circumstances no one would pick up on the meaning Itachi and her had always been different. He would know the moment the words left her mouth. "…I would do everything in my power to help."

Itachi's eyes did not light up in confirmation. He did not twitch in annoyance to the secrecy and he gave no indication that he understood what she had just said. But she knew just by looking at him that he understood. Mikoto Uchiha was a patient of Sakura Haruno.

"And, under these circumstances I can only assume that our family doctors would be pointless. If she ever felt the desire, hypothetically, to come to you it would not be for a simple cold," again, an indication for her to answer appropriately.

"Since your mother has a full time doctor on call, I could only assume that if for some reason she felt the desire to come to me then no, it wouldn't be because of a cold. Again, I cannot fathom why your mother would ever turn to me instead but then again," Sakura paused, wondering if she was beginning to cross a line. She hadn't answered anything directly and no one could fault her for what she was about to say since legally, she was denying any involvement with the client. "Your mother is a proud woman who wouldn't want to burden others or their view of her. The matriarch being sick could temporarily hinder the Uchiha's power. I could only assume she would want it to be a secret to protect her family."

Itachi looked out the window as he processed what Sakura was saying. His mother was indeed sick, far worse than she was letting on. Sakura was treating her but was coming across some road blocks due to his mother's stubbornness and unwillingness to ask for help. With a slow twist back in her direction Itachi nodded at Sakura once, "While I hope your services are not necessary in the future I am glad to know that my mother would be properly cared for if the need should ever arise."

"Yes well," Sakura couldn't help the grin forming across her features, "happiness is the key to health if you ask me. In my professional opinion if you want her to live a long and happy life some grandchildren would be a great start."

His body froze and she knew that she had gotten him. With a twitch of her lips Sakura continued to press forward, "At least that is what most of my elderly patients say. Something about them being their greatest treasures. Keeps them young too. Hey speaking of which, how are the marriage interviews?"

She was dead and she knew it, the question was when the actual act would be taken out. Of course, this was of little to no consequence to her. She had been teasing death for far to long to let one Uchiha stop her. His eyes, although stern were not as assassin like as she assumed they would be. Instead they seemed more predatory than anything, "Yes, mother would be happy with that wouldn't she? And the interviews are going, albeit slowly. I have found a few candidates though."

This caught Sakura off guard. The stupid bastard was messing with her, he would never settle for someone who was throwing themselves at him like any of these women were. In fact, he would never settle for someone that he did not already have his sights set on. Itachi never made rash decisions, ever. What the hell was he planning? "Don't do it, whatever you are planning on doing to get back at me don't do it. Your mother would kill you if you accepted a marriage proposal just to see my face."

Itachi's smirk grew exponentially, "I have no intention of accepting any offers. Your face in that moment was priceless enough to satisfy me. Of course, grandchildren would make her happy. I am sure Sasuke's would do fine. Perhaps it is time I reminded father that I am not the only child he has."

Sakura would have killed him but he was already out the window. With a huff Sakura sank down into her chair. Screw her life and everything in it. She had just involved Sasuke in her and Itachi's war.

* * *

**Firevixen73**- And the plot thickens! I just love writing this story and thanks so much for being such avid readers. Those reviews really make my day! For those who like Sakura as a main character I do have a one shot involving her. It is a Sakura/Sasuke story though, so slightly different, but if you feel like checking it out it is called _Heavenly Maiden_. I was thinking of doing a Sakura/Sasuke longer story and wanted to see what everyone thought.


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